Lauren

"Sorry man." I muttered as I turned and started walking back to my teammates.

"Asshole!" he shouted at me.

"You have no idea motherfucker!" I shouted back as the medical staff began to work on him.

A ref stepped in between me and the staff and taking me by the arm, he started walking me toward the sidelines instead of the huddle. I shook my arm away from him and started toward my teammates when I heard "Dead Ball Foul, Number 54 Defense, Un-sportsman Like Conduct, Number 54 has been ejected from the game. Fifteen yards will be added to the end of the run. First Down."

"WHAT!" I screamed looking over at the ref who had grabbed my arm. Ripping my helmet off I started walking toward the little bitch; if I was getting ejected, I was going down big for it. Then, suddenly, half the coaches we had were standing around me pushing me back to the sidelines. When they finally got me settled down and heading toward the locker room the Head Coach stepped in front of me and said, "Jones, you fucked up and you know damn well you fucked up. Man up and own it. We will talk at halftime."

"Yes Coach." I said, dropping my head and trotting to the locker room with an assistant trotting along beside me.

I was still pissed, only now I was pissed that I had lost my self-control. I hadn't intentionally hurt the other player but maybe if I hadn't been so damned angry when I went on the field both of us would still be playing. Now he was heading to a hospital and I was in the locker room because a little bitch ref couldn't handle having his hand shaken away.

I sat with the team, still in uniform, as the coaching staff went over the first half stats and then our game plan for the second. With about four minutes left the Head Coach called me into his office for a little chat. It wasn't much of a chat.

He did all the talking and with a right index finger bouncing off my nose, I was reminded that, "You are a walk-on Jones, which means that your longevity around here depends on your team contributions. A starter is, by definition, a leader and a role model for the other members of the team. You can either pull your head out of your ass and come to grips with that, or you can join the other members of the student body in the stands for the rest of your academic career and wonder what the might have been. Now if you will excuse me Stud, I've got to figure out how to win a ball game with a second team linebacker. Get that damned uniform off, you can earn the right to wear it back Monday at practice. Oh, you're suspended for next Saturday's game."

That's Coach; short on words, big on motivation.

By the way, Monday was Hell on Earth. We went two for two in September. Want to guess which two games we lost?

October was a little better, we went three for four. Our only loss was our last game of the month on October 27^th. It was a home game so after it was over I headed to Dad's to attend the Halloween party that he and Lauren had planned. I tried to beg off, but Lauren cheated and put Jennifer on the phone.

"Please come home Mark! Please? If nothing else, please come home so I'm not stuck at a party with a bunch of old people." she begged me with Lauren laughing and screaming "I'm not old damn it!" in the background.

Jen called me back and told me that she was going as a saloon girl, and asked me to come up with something like that, so I decided to play along with the theme and go as an Old West Marshal. I had already dressed for the party and was standing in the living room when Jen walked in and my eyes bugged out. I love my sister to distraction but sometimes she can make me wonder if she is all there. Her costume left little doubt that her mind may have slipped when she picked it out, but her body more than made up for any mental deficiencies she might have had.

Her costume must have come from the Slutty Section of the store she bought it in. If the corset she was wearing had been cut any lower in the chest, her boobs would have been on full display. She was wearing fishnet stockings with the stays from the garter belt showing because the skirt was so short. She also had on Ruby Red lipstick and had heavily applied her mascara and blush to the point that she looked like a perfect stereotypical whore from an old western.

"Well, if it isn't Marshal Jones!" she said smiling as she sauntered up to me. Running a fingertip across my chest she looked up at me, pursed her lips and added, "Are you here to let me help you shoot a load with your big gun Marshal?"

"Not tonight Miss Jenifer ma'am. Tonight, I'm here to keep the peace in this seething den of immorality." I said, tipping my hat to her then piously removing her finger from my chest.

"Marshal, if I'm a bad enough girl tonight, can you put me in shackles and spank me? I hear you seem to enjoy doing that to some the women in these here parts. I thought you might like to, you know, try it with your favorite whore maybe?" she whispered with a devilish smile on her face.

"If I weren't so sore Jen I might, but I played a game this afternoon. My body is shot until at least Tuesday." I replied to her, feeling every bump and bruise on my body.

"Is it that bad Mark?" she asked me, showing genuine concern and dropping the role play instantly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty fucking banged up." I replied honestly.

"Show me."

"Huh?"

"Lift your shirt Mark."

I shrugged and then pulled my shirt up watching her reaction as multiple bruises came into view. She inhaled sharply then covered her mouth with her hand, looking at me with a cross between horror and disbelief.

"Oh my God!" she gasped in shock.

"We hit a little harder at the college level than they do in high school."

"Oh my God!" she repeated.

Kissing the top of her head I said, "I'll be fine Jen. I'm going to spend a while tomorrow in the hot tub."

"Promise?" she looked at me with such innocent concern that it was touching.

"Promise." I said, then I asked, "Which shop did you buy that costume in?"

"I just put it together with the stuff I already own."

"You own that corset and garter-belt?" I said, hoping she was joking.

"No Silly, the corset has stocking stays on it." she said as she started raising the skirt, "Wanna see?"

"NOPE! I'm good!" I said backing up.

"Are you sure?" she said laughing and lifting the hem of her skirt dangerously higher, "You don't wanna see what I'm not wearing under my skirt?"

"I love you Jennifer." I said laughing and wrapping my arms around her, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too Mark. You're the best big brother ever." she responded, looking up at me and smiling.

Dad and Lauren appeared a few moments later with Dad dressed as a 1930's gangster and Lauren as his Gun Moll. I thought the Old Guy was going to stroke out when he saw Jennifer's costume. Any complaints he might have had disappeared when Lauren gasped and then squealed, "I love it! God, I wish I still had the body to pull that one off!"

Jennifer stuck her tongue out at Dad then, for lack of a better word, she strutted out of the room with her hips rolling like a runway model as she walked away. Lauren all but cackled at Dad's wide-eyed reaction to her strut. I just stood there silently admiring my baby sister's skill at shutting Dad down; she was good.

The party was a success and by midnight all the guests had gone home. I had even managed to sneak a drink or three, so I felt pretty good as I climbed the stairs to my room. I turned the light off and had just thrown my jeans into a heap beside my bed when there was a soft knock on my door. I put on a pair of gym shorts and opened my door to find Jennifer standing there, wearing one of my high school game jerseys as a nightgown. She had scrubbed her face of the make-up and had become my fresh-faced baby sister again instead of a soiled dove of yesteryear.

"What's up?" I asked, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and get some sleep.

"Me. I can't sleep for thinking about how badly you are beat up."

"I'll be fine Jen. I've looked like this from July through December since I was ten."

"Sit down." She said pointing toward a chair in my room in front of my desk.

"Huh?"

"Sit!" she demanded still pointing at the chair.

I sat down at my desk and she stepped behind me. I felt a warm liquid hit my shoulders and before I could react to it I felt her hands begin to massage my neck and shoulders. God in Heaven it felt wonderful. She stood behind me for about five minutes, not saying a word, simply working on my shoulders and neck. Then pensively, almost as if she was afraid I would tell her no, she whispered, "Go lay down on your bed."

I stood up and smiled down at her, then lay down on my stomach listening to the bed creak. She slid on the mattress beside me, then rising she knelt and straddled the small of my back. I felt the liquid again and then her soft hands began kneading my lumbar muscles. She shifted her weight and asked me to wait for a minute and then I felt her sit back down and resume the massage.

She spent over a half an hour working over my back until I felt like a new man. Her fingers would dig in and then she would use the palm of her hands. I was almost asleep when I felt her lean forward and lay down on my back, slowly tracing her fingertips across my shoulders and neck. It took me a full minute to realize that at some point she had removed my jersey and was topless.

"Um, Jennifer?"

"Yes?" she cooed.

"Where is my jersey?"

"On the floor at the foot of the bed."

"Why?"

"It was getting in my way. Relax Mark, I'm not going to jump on my big brother's dick; not tonight or any night. There are some lines I am willing to cross with you, but playing Boink the Cheerleader with the family linebacker isn't one of them. A naughty backrub with my guy is as far as I am willing to go."

"Your guy?" I asked, smiling into my pillow.

"Always." She whispered tenderly.

"So, you want me to find another naughty cheerleader to play with?"

"If she loves you half as much as the one you are with right now, yes."

"I don't know if that's possible Jen." I said.

Jennifer softly kissed my shoulder and then scooting up my back, she whispered into my ear, "Promise me you will try Mark. This is it, I don't think there will ever be a repeat performance."

"I promise." I said then pausing I added, "I love you Jennifer."

"I love you too Mark."

Sighing, she pushed herself up and as she did I felt her nipples brush across my back. I involuntarily groaned as it happened. Jennifer chuckled, then she kissed my cheek and patting me on the butt whispered, "I'll leave the oil here, so you can massage anything that might need it after I am gone."

"What about you?" I asked, rolling over and watched as she bent down and scooped up the jersey from the floor.

Standing at the foot of my bed, she paused for a moment and gave me a spectacular view of her half nude body from the moonlight streaming through my window. Winking at me, she threw the jersey over her head whispering, "I have lube Mark, but I won't need it tonight."

With that, she opened my bedroom door and stepped into the hallway.

"Fuck." I whispered as I reached for the oil.

There was one girl, just one, who had caught my eye at school; a blonde in my English Lit class who was very pretty, extremely intelligent and had a dynamite smile. I thought she looked familiar when I saw her on the first day of class, but I couldn't place where I had seen her. Her name was Chris and she had made it plainly clear that she wouldn't mind going out if I were interested.

I figured what the Hell and the following Wednesday I asked her if she wanted to go to the game on Saturday and then maybe an early dinner after. It was an away game, but it was only thirty miles from our school and tickets were hard to come by because it was a rivalry game. She stood there staring at me, with two of her girlfriends behind her smiling as I asked, and said, "That sounds great! I'd love to go!"

I gave her a ticket after our Friday class and almost skipped to my Biology class thinking "Life is good!". God was I wrong. Life was about to become very complicated.

During the pre-game warm ups, I glanced into the stands to see if I could spot her in the student section and sure enough, I did. It is a small stadium and it is easy to spot someone if you know where they are sitting. She had her hair pulled back into a pony-tail and was wearing cutoff jeans with a Hooters tank-top. "My kinda girl." I thought innocently, ignoring the alarm bells that were softly ringing in the back of my head.

We lost, 24-21 and I was in a semi-foul mood when I met her in the parking lot after the game. I apologized for the loss, mumbling something like "I finally work up the courage to ask you out and we blow it on the field."

"You got a solo sack, forced their quarterback out of the pocket twice and broke up three run plays with tackles for a loss; it wasn't a total bust."

"You understand football stats?" I asked, kind of shocked by her response.

"My daddy coaches junior high football so I grew up with it. By the way, you signal a dead give-away before a blitz." she said seriously as I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Huh?"

"You always take two steps back before the snap when you guys blitz." she said as she put the car into reverse and backed out of the space.

"Really?" I replied becoming confused.

"Watch the game film tomorrow. Every time. I've seen every game this season Mark, trust me."

"Where have you been all my life?" I asked laughing and not believing my luck.

"Cleveland." That should have made me listen to the second set of alarms ringing, instead I was smitten by the firm boobs under the tank-top.

"So where to?"

"Pick a place." I said, still not believing my luck.

"Any place but here." She said pulling at her shirt adding, "I work there during the summers."

I all but jerked straight up in my seat and looked at her as one and one and one suddenly equaled three. "No way! No motherfucking way!" I thought, straining my memory to try and remember what the chick with Ken looked like that day in his truck.

"No way!" I mumbled out loud this time.

"Is something wrong Mark?" she asked, surprised at my reaction.

"Um. I don't know. Maybe." I said as she turned onto the interstate.

"What is it?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Do you use your real name at work or a nickname?"

Even though I had heard her name dozens of times during roll call for our class, it hadn't clicked until now. How dense can a guy get? Seriously?

"Crystal is my real name, I use it there. Chris is my nickname, why do you ask?"

"We've sort of met before."

"At work? Oh God did you hit on me there?"

"Um, no, in my neighbor's driveway two summers ago."

"Huh?" she said looking really confused.

"You were there with her ex-husband to pick up his kids for the week."

"Oh fuck!"

"Yeah."

She pulled over on the side of the interstate and put the car in Park. She sat there trembling and suddenly she burst into tears. After a minute, she tried to regain her composure and then she started crying again. I didn't know what to do so I sat there waiting for her to kick me out on the side of the road. Instead she eventually stopped crying then wiped her eyes. After a few seconds, she slapped the steering wheel and softly said, "Fuck me!"

"Right now, or after dinner?" I quipped.

"Not funny!" she hissed at me.

"Bad joke Chris but I'm not upset. I just want you to know up front that his ex is dating my dad now."

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed.

"Yes." I replied, shaking my head at the situation and then I just sat there staring at her.

"So where does this leave us?" she asked.

"About a hundred yards west of mile maker 270." I replied, nodding my head up the interstate.

"That's all you have? You just found out that I am responsible for destroying a marriage and you're making jokes?" she asked incredulously.

"I'd really like to have dinner with you." I said honestly.

"Why? So, we can make this more unreal and awkward than it already is?"

"No, because I want to hear the whole story. Ken is a world-class prick and I'm damn near certain that there is more to the story than you are telling." I responded.

"Way more." she said, sniffing back the tears.

"Let's start with dinner and go from there. If nothing else, you get a free steak and out of it."

"Mark, if I just dropped you off at your dorm, would you be offended?"

"No. Not really. I'm not going to force the issue, but I would really love to hear your side of it."

"Why?"

"Like I said, I think there is more to it than you are letting on."

"Such as?"

"I'm betting dollars to kisses that Lauren wasn't the only woman that bastard lied to last year."

"How many?"

"A thousand, but you'll have to take a check for the balance." I said smiling at her.

She hesitated for a second then she unbuckled her seat belt and shifting around in the car she leaned over and kissed my cheek. Then she looked me in the eyes and said, "Nine hundred and ninety-nine."

I paused feeling the warmth of her lips on my cheek and said, "Crystal?"

"Yes?"

"Go ahead and drop me off at my dorm. I'll pick you up tomorrow evening at six for dinner and no, you can't take a raincheck."

"Mark this is too weird for me." She said, putting the car into Drive and pulling back out on the interstate.

"You don't get a vote." I said smiling at her.

"I don't?"

"No! My sister told to find a cheerleader to have fun with and I have."

"How did you know I use to be a cheerleader?" she said laughing at me.

Looking at her I said, "With a smile like yours, if you weren't it would be a felony."

She blushed, shook her head and told me to pick her up at five instead.

She dropped me off and I walked inside the dorm; standing by the door I waited for her to pull out and then I walked out to my car and drove home. I was stiff and sore when I got out and hobbled into the living room collapsing on the couch. Jennifer wondered into the room with a curious look on her face and stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

"Hey you! I thought you had a game today."

"I did, but I needed to talk to you."

"What's up?" she asked, sitting down beside me.

"Where is Dad?"

The look she gave me was priceless.

"Guess who has a golf handicap of eight." she said slowly shaking her head.

"Who?"

"Lauren." she responded

"No shit?" I said, surprised that she had never once mentioned playing golf. Then again, the strokes I was interested in when I had been around her didn't involve a golf course.

"No shit."

"So, what's up?"

"I met someone." I said trying to gage the reaction on her face before I continued with, "She went to the game today with me and I had a date with her tonight, but I broke it to come here and get your advice."

"Well, first you get her to take her clothes off and then you get between her legs." Jennifer said grinning at me.

"Seriously Jennifer, I may have gotten in over my head here and I want your advice."

"Okay, shoot." she said.

When I told her, her eyes got huge and her hands flew to her mouth. She began rocking back and forth on the couch looking at me and then burst out laughing. I would have been offended but the absurdity of it all came crashing down on me and I began to laugh as well. What else could I do? Seriously, what were the odds?

"You have GOT to be shitting me Mark!"

"Nope. Thousands of women on that campus and she is the one I asked out."

"So, I guess she hasn't told you her side of the story."

"Not yet, I'm going out with her tomorrow night but I'm not going to pressure her to find out anything. If she tells me, she tells me."