Full Count...

My internal alarm clock woke me at 7:15 am. Putting on my usual gear, I headed out for my morning run. The forty minutes jog always started me off on the right foot.

Returning home, I found that both of my house guests were still in bed, so I quietly made my way upstairs and showered.

I think that the cool air on a hot night, accompanied with sleeping away from home caused my guests to sleep in. Chaos ensued when they finally awoke. The sounds of shuffling feet and opening and closing doors filled the air.

"Matthew! Oh man. Oh gosh. We're late. Come on Matthew, we have to move it."

Beth rushed down the stairs looking like she had just rolled out of bed.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I, we never sleep in. You must think that we are so lazy. I feel like..."

"Stop. Everything's fine. I have some breakfast ready for you guys. Go up and get ready to go. Come back down, grab some food and you will still have plenty of time to make it to class. I'll drop Matthew off at your house. Or, he can come to the park with me and I'll bring him home after the game."

"He'd love that", faded into the air as she ran toward the stairs.

They both appeared shortly after. Beth freshly showered. Matthew freshly out of bed.

Making herself a plate to go, Beth hugged Matthew good-bye, then leaned in and hugged me also.

For the second day I a row, our awkward hug turned into an even more awkward kiss. I honestly tried for her cheek, but once again our lips brushed, and lightning bolts once again filled my body.

"Beth, I'm sorry. I keep doing that, but I didn't mean to. I was trying for your cheek. I don't want to make you feel uncom..."

The fingers on her small hand pulled my chin toward her so that we made eye contact. Leaning forward Beth put her lips against mine and gave me the softest kiss ever.

"There. Now we're even. See you guys at home after the game. Thanks again for a lovely night."

Matthew sat in the box with the media guys. They took him under their wings and brought him down after the game. The funny thing was that while working at the home, some seniors were watching the game and when Beth looked up to see the score, she noticed Matthew sitting in the box behind the commentators.

After grabbing some ice cream, I dropped Matthew off to a dark house. Matthew texted me when he was safely inside and told me that Beth was already sleeping because she had an early class.

The heat didn't let up. The mercury continued heading up. It was a sweaty, shitty few days of ball and the weatherman said that it was only going to get worse. Luckily Thursday was a day off and Friday morning we were leaving for some games in Colorado.

Hot or not, I still put in my early morning jogs and on Thursday, I was grabbing some juice when my phone rang. I noticed 3 missed call over the last 15 minutes. I hadn't heard from Matthew since Monday night, so I assumed it must be important.

"Hey buddy, what's up?"

"Joe. Can you help me? Beth, her car. Her car won't go, and we need it. I need it today. It's important. Can you look at it? Please Joe. Can you fix it?"

"Where are you?"

"Home."

"On my way."

I had never heard Matthew like this. He was, for the lack of a better word, "distressed". He was very upset. I didn't race over, but I surely didn't waste any time.

In the already hot, early morning sun, both Matthew and Beth were dressed for something important and were standing curbside by her car when I pulled up. As much as I liked tinkering with motorcycles and old cars, I knew as soon as I saw the old Corolla that I couldn't help it. The greenish yellow liquid was a telltale sign that bad things had happened.

"Get in." Beth pointed toward her car as if asking why I wasn't going to look at it. "Come on, I'll drive you guys wherever you need to go."

Matthew climbed into the backseat and I noticed that he curled his arms around his knees and was gently rocking in the seat.

"It's okay buddy. Just tell me where to go." He just pointed at Beth, who had yet to do up her seatbelt.

"Joe, we can't expect you to take us to an appointment on your day off."

"We'll debate this later. Tell me where we're headed." Matthew belted out an address and showed me that he had it on his phone's GPS for us.

The first 10 minutes of the drive seemed to calm Matthew, that is after he knew that we would make it on time, and he wouldn't miss his appointment.

"When you were driving last night, did you smell anything weird?"

"Yeah. It smelled like a sweet, kinda sour smell." I think that her car had overheated.

"Did the A/C stop?"

I am sure that under any other circumstances it would have been funny, but when I asked if the A/C stopped working, she said "yes". Then after what seemed like a very long pause, she said "3 years ago".

"Oh."

"I don't think that it has anything to do with the A/C. I started to smell that smell and a few minutes later it started to make a loud knocking sound. Almost like a tap, tap, tap noise."

"Oh. How far did you drive with it making a noise like that?"

"Straight home. Not far. Maybe 6 or 7 miles."

"Oh."

"Do you think that you know what it is?"

"Yes.

"Great. Can you fix it?"

"No."

We pulled up in front of a Medical Arts building. Even though they both asked me to come in with them, I declined. Dressed only in my still damp running gear, I'm sure that I would have been out of place.

Just over 2 hours later, they appeared at the parking lot. Beth spoke to Matthew all the way to the vehicle. She tried to look at him as she spoke. She rested her hand on his shoulder, but his gaze stayed fixed on the pavement. She pulled him to her and hugged him tightly, kissing the top of his bowed head. There was an unexplained happiness and a sadness surrounding them. My inquisitive side begged me to ask questions, but I knew my place.

"Well guys, where to now."

"Could you possibly drop me at work? I'm already late. I'll just grab a cab home. And if it's no problem, could you drop Matthew?"

"No problem at all." I looked in the rearview mirror and Matthew still had his head hung low. "Anyone hungry? I'm starving. We could grab something for the ride."

"Donuts." It was the only word that came out of the backseat.

I quick stop the pick-up some "fritters", and we were headed toward Beth's work.

"Is there a spare key for your car at the house?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll take a look at it when I take Matthew home, if that's okay."

"Please do."

Both doors opened when we pulled up at the nursing home. Matthew called out "SHOTGUN", to nobody in particular, and jumped into the front seat. With remanence of donut glaze still on his lips, he kissed his sister, who told him that they would talk later.

"What time are you finished work?"

"Four."

"We'll pick you up."

"You don't have to do that. You've done too..."

"Bye." Matthew closed the door on his still talking sister and we drove away.

The spare keys were of no use to us. We tried to turn the old Corolla over, but the motor was seized. The old girl had seen way better days.

Matthew and I called a number of garages for estimates, but no one wanted to touch it. With too many miles on it, and so much wrong with it, they all told me the same story, "You're putting a bandage on a sinking ship. You're throwing away good money". By 2pm we had emptied any personal belongings. I had taken pictures of the insurance, ownership and the photocopy of Beth's license and a flatbed had loaded it up and handed Matthew $200 for the scrap metal. The old car was gone forever.

It doesn't matter where you live, once you become accustomed to the pleasures of A/C, you need it to be part of your life. Just sitting in their apartment felt like a sauna. Even the constant hovering sounds and motions of the three oscillating fans did little, if anything, to move the air or cool the room. I know that millions of people live in conditions like this every day, but watching Matthew sweat as he just sat and read his Sports Illustrated, broke my heart.

"Buddy, you comin with me to pick Beth up?"

"You're kidding right?"

"No. Why?"

"Your truck has A/C, dummy. That's why." Well that's what I get for asking a stupid question.

Beth was still wearing her scrubs when she got into the truck. She looked tired and sad, but Matthew didn't seem bothered by it, nor did he offer his sister the front seat. Beth didn't seem to mind and pointed the air vents in her direction and turned up the fan speed.

"How's Betsy?"

"Heaven." Mathew told her.

"Who?" I asked.

"That's what she calls her car." Once again, I smiled.

After that the ride home was in complete silence.

I pulled into the same spot that her Corolla had been parked in. The only thing left as a reminder was the coolant and oil satins that still lay shining on the ground.

"Hey buddy, can you give your sister and I a second to talk?"

"Why? Are you guys planning on going out for dinner without me?"

"No." He closed the door behind him, but he walked half backward so that he could keep an eye on the truck. I'm sure if I even moved a muscle, he would have sprinted back to us.

I made eye contact with Beth in the rearview mirror.

"Sorry, I needed to talk to you alone. I didn't want to put you on the spot in front of your brother." She had a look that she was expecting me to say something bad. "It's so freakin hot out, and it's only going to get hotter. I'm leaving in the morning for a week and change, and I would like to offer you and Matthew to stay at my place." Her head lowered to the point that her chin was touching her chest. "That way you'll have some relief from the heat, and you'll have a vehicle until you can figure things out."

Her sobs were barely detectable, but they were there.

"If you agree, we'll go upstairs and pack up all the things that you need and take them with us. Anything else you guys can come back for if and when you need it."

Matthew was still standing outside of the building with his eyes glued to the truck.

"I don't want to rush you, but your bodyguard looks like he's headed this way." Beth chuckled, and her voice crackled through her tiny sobs.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because we're friends, and friends help each other. I'm going to get out and go over to Matthew. In 2 minutes, I'll send him over. You can either tell him what we were talking about, or that we are going somewhere to eat, or you can tell him whatever you want. If you decide to come, we'll pick some pizza up, just in case he asks." Beth chuckled again, but there was pain in it.

Matthew eyed me with the same cautious look that he had given me the very first day we had met. He wasn't nearly as agitated as he was this morning, but he was concerned.

"What's wrong. What's wrong with Beth? Did you swear in front of her?"

"Never. You told me how angry that makes her. I don't want her giving you or me any trouble. She won't let us hang out if I do something like that." Matthew nodded his head in agreement, but not once did his eyes leave my truck. "I think that you should go talk to her."

Matthew didn't hesitate for a second. He opened the back door and after a minute, he disappeared inside and closed it behind him. After what seemed like 10 minutes they appeared. Walking toward me hand in hand, I could see that they had both been crying.

No shoulder bump, no handshake, instead I was sandwiched between the siblings in a hug.

We unloaded the back of my Escalade. It didn't take much. Two loads each and we were done and that included the pizza. Apparently, all that Matthew needed to survive was his phone and his clothes. He told Beth that everything else was already here.

There was no surprise when Matthew appeared wearing his board shorts and ran toward the pool. His sister yelled "eat", but his "later" could not be heard over the splash of his cannonball.

Without asking, I poured wine for Beth and opened a beer for myself. Eating alfresco allowed us to jump in and out of the pool to cool down when we needed. Matthew did his own thing, eating his pizza and indulging in a various assortment of sodas.

"So, I have 3 vehicles. I'll leave the truck for you, if that's alright?"

"Truck?"

"The Escalade." Beth's surprised look, surprised me.

"Oh, no. That's way too nice. Don't you have something like Betsy?"

"Not really. It's best you take that one, believe me." She curiosity got to her.

"What are the other two?"

"I have a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series and my first vehicle. A 1966 Bronco. It's old and unreliable, but it keeps me humble."

"Do you need me to drive you to the airport?"

"No. We meet at the park. They take us to the plane from there."

It was refreshing to watch Beth. Unlike so many others in California, she wasn't trying to be someone that she wasn't. Her fingernails were done, but they were done by her. Her hair had a modern style, but I could only assume that it didn't cost her $500 to get it done. And for the second time in my pool, she was wearing the same suit, sometime that is an absolute no-no with girls her age. Beth had lots of responsibilities and it looked like she had a pretty good head on her shoulders.

More than once she caught me checking her out when she dove off the rock platform of when she climbed out of the pool. I couldn't help myself. Her beauty was mesmerizing. No matter which way she turned or how she walked, she was a vision of loveliness. My stares ended up getting me into trouble.

"What?" Beth was now looking directly at me. "What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

Wow did I feel like a jerk.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop. It's just that you are so natural and pretty. It's hard not to look at you."

"See Beth, I told you that you were pretty." From out of the blue her brother piped in. He had been so quiet up until this point that I had nearly forgotten that he was there.

"Thank you, Matthew." She turned away from me and headed toward the cabana. I could have sworn that there was just a hint more bounce in her step and sure enough, she looked over her shoulder to catch me checking out her butt.

When she returned, I was gifted with another beer and noticed that she had topped up her wine. We got into a long conversation about our lives, personal and otherwise. Beth told me that she really hadn't had a boyfriend since high school, and I told her that my last girlfriend was in my first year playing in LA. She was a movie starlet that wanted to be seen with a sports guy. We hashed out all the details of where things were, how to order anything that was needed and when the cleaning staff and pool maintenance would come in.

For Beth and Matthew, the idea of someone cleaning their home and bringing in their food, sounded like a foreign language to them.

When Beth left the table, her brother hit me with a shocker.

"She likes you."

I couldn't believe his words. I mean she kissed me, once. And she didn't kick me for checking her out, but like me? I highly doubted it.

"No way. I think you're running outside of the baseline on that one buddy."

"Nope. I know. And I know, you know."

"Know what?" said Beth.

Matthew and I both said "nothing" in unison. Beth had unintentionally snuck up behind us, putting a stop to our conversation. When she heard the answer to her question, a snide "so that's how it's going to be with you two" came out of her mouth.

"Joe, can I go read in your trophy room. I won't touch anything. Nothing at all, just the magazines. Promise." Matthew looked way younger than he was. It was time to clear the air once and for all.

"Okay, we have to set some guidelines up right now." Both siblings looked at me with their fullest attention. "You guys are staying here. It's now your home. Anything in the house is fair play. Eat what you want. Drink what you want. You don't have to ask me. Matthew, if you had guidelines at your place with your sister, follow those. Beth, you can be assured that your room is off limits to us guys. As for any another room, please make yourselves at home. Read what you want, touch what you want, watch what you want. Understood?" They both nodded their approval. Matthew was the first to speak.

"Joe, do we...do we have to leave when you get home?" Beer flew out of my mouth and nose. It was just like one of the best comedy spit-takes of all time. Beth roared with laughter and Matthew looked offended. "What?"

"Matthew. Of course, we have to leave. Joe is being far to kind as it is. We'll probably be gone when he gets back." Matthew's head hung down so that we couldn't see the pain in his eyes.

"Woo, woo, woo. You better be here when I get back. I'll need someone to tell me how bad I played. If I stink, I can blame it on my batting coach." I put my hand on Matthew's shoulder to show him that I cared. "Look, I'm in no rush what-so-ever for you to leave, so get that out of your head. Stay until fall, when the weather starts to cool down. Maybe things will have changed for the better. Plus, Beth will be done school, right." I looked toward Beth to see if I was correct about the school thing.

"Yes, but I still need a couple more classes." She looked at me as if she was going to scold me. "Joe, you have to be careful what you say, Matthew will believe everything that you of all people tell him."

"Good, because not one word of it was a lie. I gotta hit the hay. Early flight. You guys talk it out amongst yourselves, but I hope that you are here when I get back."

Matthew stood and hugged me hard. "Joe, thank you for helping me today." I hugged him back just as hard. "I'm sorry your day started off badly, but I'm glad that I could help buddy."

Making my way inside. Beth stopped me. There was something that she wanted to say, but she couldn't she was choking back tears. Her chin was puckered, and her voice was hiding somewhere deep inside of her. Somewhere deep inside for her young body, she carried a burden far larger than most. Pulling her to me, I let her know that things would be okay.

"Don't. You don't have to say anything. Nothing at all." A gentle kiss on her forehead and a reassuring hug was enough for her. "I don't want to ask too many questions about this morning, but if there's anything that I can help with, you know that I will."

Beth shook her head and said, "Thank you. We'll figure it out" and left it at that.

The days away dragged on. It was the first time that I was on a road trip and I wanted to be home. Matthew text me daily, letting me know how much that they were enjoying the pool and cool air at night. One of his texts included a picture of Beth by the pool. The image was burnt into my head. His last text told me that both he and Beth could not remember sleeping so well. I wished that I could say the same.

The purring engine of my Benz died when I pulled it into the garage. Both other vehicles were there. I hadn't noticed Matthew or Beth, but I was hopeful.

No need to worry. Matthew was floating in the pool and Beth was in the kitchen with her back to both the pool and me. Music was coming out of the cabana like it was a pool side concert hall. Beth's body swayed to the tune. She was wearing a loose, button down, white blouse and her butt was covered in small peach colored shorts, while her bronzed legs appeared as though they had been in the sun over the past few days. The overly sexy look had me in a trance.

Sneaking upstairs unheard over the music wasn't a problem. A quick change into some shorts and I would join them by the pool.

In retrospect, I should have announced my return.

I heard Beth yell to her brother that she was going upstairs to put her bathing suit on. I thought nothing of it. Until she walked past the open door of my room, topless.

The white blouse was sliding down her arms and into her hands. With her shoulders squared back and her arms behind her, I got my first unimpeded look at Beth's naked chest. As suspected, her white, untanned breasts were impeccable. Placed firm and high on her chest, adorned with beautiful quarter sized areolas and small cute nipples. Her stomach was flat and tanned, while her back was straight and elegant as she walked. Beth's tan lines stood out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of her darkened body.