The Playmaker

It was a pretty laid-back place to work at, Connor always thought. There was no dress code, the open floor plan encouraged conversation, a large portion of the employees were in their twenties and thirties, and once a month the company held a happy hour right in the office. He worked in the Education division of a major software company where the people he worked with were a pleasant mix of nerdy and creative.

"My roommates and I are having a party Friday night," Connor announced, sitting down at the lunch table with a few of his co-workers. He opened the wrapper of the sandwich he picked up at the deli before continuing.

"It's Valentine's Day," Ellen interjected before he had a chance to say anything more. "You're having a party on Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah," Connor gave Ellen a half-cocked smile. "It's a Valentine's Day party, for singles. The rule is," he looked over at the other people at the table, "you have to bring someone of the opposite gender whom you're not interested in. You can't come alone."

"Ah, so it's kinda like a mixer," John narrowed his eyes, "the intention is to meet someone there?"

"Right, so you bring someone essentially for someone else to hook up with. It has to be of the opposite sex, to keep the numbers even. Otherwise, it would just be like a sausage party." Connor explained.

"Or the opposite of one," Shaina put in.

"What's the opposite of a sausage party?" Connor chewed a bite of his sandwich, his eyebrows drawn together.

"I don't know. Just like... all girls, no guys," Shaina clarified.

"Right. Well. What do you say? Are any of you guys interested?" Connor switched his gaze between the people at the table. John, Shaina, Ellen, Nina.

"I'm totally interested, I just need to figure out who to bring," John announced.

"I'm seeing someone right now," Ellen shook her head.

Connor pointed a finger at Shaina and Nina, switching between them, shifting his look from one to the other.

"Yeah, totally," Nina told Connor.

"I would go, but I don't have the slightest clue whom to even ask," Shaina admitted.

"Well, I'll text you guys my address and if you find someone to bring, you should totally come. It will be a good time."

****

Nina knew exactly whom to bring to Connor's party. She has been friends with Tyler since their freshman year in college. They didn't frequently hang out these days, but they kept in touch and he was in the city too. Plus, at the age of 30, single friends were becoming more and more rare. Tyler was the type of guy who made friends easily, had no problem meeting new people and hanging out with a group he didn't know, and he was single. He'd be perfect for a party like this. He'd probably be so into it though, he'd be off hooking up with someone minutes into the party, leaving Nina to fend for herself.

"That sounds like a good time," Tyler told her when she invited him to come. "Where's this place?"

"Kips Bay. Not too far from you actually."

"Cool, cool. That works for me," Tyler agreed.

Nina put a lot of thought into what to wear. She didn't go out that often and it was always made more complicated in the winter - how do you dress sexy when it's 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside? In the warm months, she liked skirts and dresses, but she hated wearing tights or feeling the frigid February wind up her skirt. She opted for a pair of cute, dark jeans that hugged her ass and a black top that had see-through, lace sleeves, starting from the area above the bust. There wasn't much she could do with her hair, which only came down to her chin, hanging in a smooth, blond curtain, but she put on some makeup, accentuating her eyes with eyeliner and mascara. It made her blue eyes pop, looking wider than usual. She swiped on a bit of peachy lip gloss and was done. One last assessment in the mirror confirmed to her that she looked presentable, possibly cute, perhaps not in the realm of hot, but maybe she didn't feel like trying that hard.

When Nina and Tyler walked in the door, it was already very crowded and loud in Connor's apartment. The lights were dim and people were standing around everywhere with drinks in their hands. There was music playing somewhere, but not overly loud. It was one of the other roommates who opened the door for them, but he called Connor over as soon as they walked in the door.

"Hey! Very cool to see you here!" Connor told her.

"Hey, this is my friend Tyler." Connor and Tyler shook hands.

"Nice! Ok, let me show you around real quick. Coats are on my bed over here," he walked them through the nearest doorway to the right and they left their coats there. "The bathroom's over here. The kitchen's at the end of the hall, feel free to grab drinks. There's beer and soda in the fridge, and other various booze on the counter. The living room is this way. And... try to like mingle and not just hang out with each other, ok? That's kind of the point of all this."

"Oh, I totally love this idea. Come with someone you're not interested in, leave someone you are interested in." Tyler was grinning.

"Yeah, something like that," Connor responded, giving Nina a quick glance. "Help yourselves to some drinks. I will see you around."

Tyler and Nina got drinks and scanned what they could see of the apartment from their vantage point. It was a fairly spacious place in an old building with a large foyer at the front door, a long hallway down the middle, and 3 bedrooms. It wasn't in the best of shapes - there was peeling paint on the ceiling and the kitchen was very dated and shabby, but it was still pretty nice.

"Are there any girls you know here whom you can introduce me to?" Tyler asked Nina.

"Umm... " Nina hesitated. "I think I saw someone I know over there," she nodded her head in the direction of the living room. There was a small group of people from work talking in the corner.

They walked over to the group and Nina introduced Tyler to everyone. He wasn't shy at all. He launched right into conversation, directing what he was saying more towards the women who were there than the guys. Nina watched him for a moment.

"So what's the story with Tyler?" John asked Nina, surprising her out of her thoughts.

"Umm... he's a friend from college," Nina swished the ice in her drink.

"Ah, ok. Just wondering. I've talked to a few people and it seems like many chose to bring 'friends' who are not really friends, but rather people they formerly tried to date and didn't... click with. You know. So they are looking to dump them off on someone else." John laughed. Nina smiled.

"Tyler's a friend," she rolled her eyes, sighing. "I mean, when we first met, there was a bit of... a thing between us." She looked towards where Tyler stood, directing his dimpled smile at the woman who sat a few desks away from Nina. "But it really didn't last long. We went out a few times and it wasn't working for me, but we stayed friends." John smirked. "In my defense though," Nina pointed a finger at John, "that was like twelve years ago, man! We've been just friends for twelve years, that counts for something, right?"

"Well, yeah, sure." John agreed. "I'm gonna go out for a smoke. You don't smoke, do you?"

"No." Nina shook her head.

"Ok, I'll catch you later."

The thing with Tyler was an eternity ago. He was a bit too aggressive and pushy for her liking. She was a virgin then, had very little experience with guys in general, and wasn't ready for the speed with which things with Tyler progressed. He made a good friend though. When she told him she wasn't into his overt advances, he backed off and stayed in the friend zone since.

Tyler was deep in conversation with a couple of girls. Nina scanned the room for anyone else she might know. She didn't feel like she could just walk up to random strangers and start talking to them. Her anxiety about being there and being alone and not knowing what to say was building. There was nowhere to sit down. She walked over to the DVD shelves and looked through the titles.

"Tell me which of these movies you've seen or own yourself, and I'll tell you which one of the roommates you would likely click with," somebody said behind her. Nina turned around to look at the person who spoke to her. He was just a few inches taller than her, had curly dark hair, olive skin, and glasses. Nina smiled.

"Oh yeah? Are you one of them?" She asked.

"Yeah. My name is Oswald." He extended his hand to her. Nina shook it.

"I'm Nina."

"So, you wanna play? Wait, do you know any of the guys?" Oswald asked to check.

"I know Connor, but not very well. We work together, eat lunch together sometimes, but I definitely don't know anything about the movies that he likes," Nina admitted.

"Ok, ok. So what have you seen?" Nina scanned the shelves. There were several shelves of horror flicks, most of which she had never seen before. There were Sci-Fi movies and the entire collection of Rocky. Somebody was into Star Wars.

"I've seen some of these Bill Murray movies - Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters. I've seen Scream and The Omen, but I really don't like horror movies. Umm... What else? Oh, Clerks and Mallrats and Dogma. The Blues Brothers. I think I may have seen Animal House before."

"Is that it?" Oswald waited patiently. Nina scanned through the titles one more time.

"I think so." She said. Oswald laughed.

"Ok, so that didn't work at all as I had planned," he told her.

"Why not? Whose movies did I name?" Nina asked, curious.

"4 and 4 for the other two guys cause they both own a copy of The Blues Brothers. Only two of mine."

"That's funny," Nina admitted.

"I thought I kinda had the best chances of winning at this because I own more of these movies than the other two guys put together," Oswald smirked.

"Ah, so you were just setting me up, I see."

"I'm sorry. Let me get you a drink to make it up. What are you drinking?" Oswald asked, starting to walk towards the kitchen, motioning for Nina to follow him.

"Jack and Coke," Nina told him.

"Alrighty." Nina watched him mix the drink. He made it very strong.

"Thank you." She accepted the drink he handed to her and took a small sip. She stood there, awkwardly holding it, not knowing what else to say to Oswald.

She was definitely turned off by the way he tried to trick her with the movies and how strong he made her drink. It rubbed her the wrong way. She looked into her drink, then out around the room, anywhere but at Oswald who was still standing beside her. She didn't know how to get out of this situation, to get away from talking to Oswald.

"So you are a programmer, like Connor?" Oswald asked, making conversation.

"Yeah, I am." Nina didn't look up at him. She felt a little trapped and couldn't think on the spot. She scanned the area that she could see for Tyler, but couldn't spot him right away. Her gaze scanned over John, talking to a couple of people animatedly, with a bottle of beer in his hand. Should she head over there? Should she just walk away or should she say 'excuse me?'

"I work for an investment company. I'm a broker," Oswald told her.

"Ok." She nodded, still panicking. Still thinking of an excuse to walk away. An arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders, from somewhere above, it seemed, and Nina nearly jumped.

"Let's go grab a smoke," Connor pulled her away. He took the drink out of Nina's hand and set it down on the counter. "Later Os."

"Thank you!" Nina mouthed up at Connor as they walked away.

"Do you wanna grab your coat?" Connor asked as they passed his bedroom on the way to the front door.

"I don't actually smoke," she told him.

"Come out anyway." Nina grabbed her coat, putting it on as they walked down 3 flights of stairs. "I'm sorry about my roommate. That was really painful to watch." Connor told Nina, looking down at her. He was tall, 6'1 or 6'2 maybe. It was part of why Nina found him attractive. Height was kind of a turn-on for her.

****

Connor lit up a cigarette outside and took a long drag, stuffing his other hand in his pocket.

"I kinda panicked. I don't really know why, but I just had this uneasy feeling about him." Connor nodded as he took another drag. At work, Nina always seemed self-assured and confident, but watching her with Oswald, she appeared to have a totally different demeanor.

"He's actually a good guy and all, just kinda awkward. What did he say to you?" Connor narrowed his eyes.

"He asked which of the movies at your place I've seen and that... whichever roommates' movies I've seen most of, I'd probably 'click' with the best. God that sounds ridiculous now that I say it out loud, why did I not just tell him 'no thanks' and walk away?" Connor blew out smoke laughing.

"That's actually kind of hilarious, because like... oh, 75% of all of those DVDs are his!" Connor told her.

"Yeah, he confessed to that after it turned out that I've seen twice as many of yours and your other roommate's movies as his." Connor shook his head.

"Oh jeez, that's devastating!"

"Then he poured me a drink that was mostly Jack and hardly any coke. And that felt kind of uncomfortable too," Nina recounted.

"Yeah, I think that's where I picked up, when he handed you the drink and you were looking at it like he just handed you a cup of... hot pickle juice or something." Connor mimed looking at an imaginary cup in his hand. "I would have jumped in sooner, but I just wanted to make sure that I was reading the situation right, that you really weren't interested."

"Thank you, I do appreciate it." Connor upturned his head and blew smoke up into the air.

"I guess you don't go to bars and clubs that often, or you would have had a stock response lined up for him, about not being interested." He knew his female friends definitely had those. They always had a line ready for the guys who tried to hit on them.

"Nope," Nina admitted.

"Did you meet anyone else tonight, besides Os?"

"No. I am really not good at this, meeting people at parties." Nina shifted from foot to foot, looking down.

"Why not? What's wrong?" Connor's eyebrows came together and he stubbed out the cigarette.

"I'm just... socially inadequate," she shrugged her shoulders.

"I like that phrase 'socially inadequate,' but I don't think it describes you. Now, Oswald, he's socially inadequate. You..." he looked her over, appraisingly, "I think you're just not interested in anyone up there." He looked up towards the building. She bit the corner of her lip, looking away. Her hands were deep in her coat pockets and her shoulders came up. "Am I wrong?" She didn't answer. "Nina?" She looked up at him, still biting her lip. Even in the sparse light of the city street, Connor could see that she was blushing. She had porcelain skin and natural platinum blond hair, the combination which brought out an intense red color in her face. Her pale blue eyes were wide staring back at him.

Connor was slightly taken aback. Was Nina interested in him? She was pretty, had some nice curves and a narrow waist, definitely smart and super competent at what she did at work, but he never really considered her in this way. She stood there silently, having looked away from him again, and he was struck by how different she seemed now than at work. He's known her for several years now and Nina was not shy. She spoke up at meetings, she chatted at lunch, she joked and laughed at the stupid, juvenile things some of the other guys said.

"What's up with you? You're not usually like this." Connor took a pack of gum out of his pocket, grabbed a piece for himself, and offered it out to Nina. She shook her head no. He popped the gum in his mouth.

"I don't do this very much. I don't go to parties or bars or whatever. I'm just crap at being social." Nina made an excuse.

"Oh come on. You're not like this at work and it's just me, Connor, you're not meeting anyone new." He hoped to ease her apprehension with his reminder. She smirked.

"Did you meet anyone tonight that you're interested in?" Nina cocked her head to the side. Was that a flirty smile on her face? Did his comment actually work to relax her?

"Ah, there you go. That's more like you." He smiled back. His fingers needed something to fidget with. Another cigarette would have been perfect, but Nina didn't smoke and he already had gum in his mouth. He played with the gum wrapper in his hands, unfolding it and refolding it.

A few people walked out of the building, saying goodbye to Connor, pulling him in for a hug, and waving as they walked away. They had been standing outside for a long stretch of time and Connor considered what his next move should be. He was used to really forward women who propositioned him, made the first move, made some sort of advances. He liked it that way, there was no guesswork as to whether she was really into it. It made him feel more comfortable and confident.

"You wanna come back up to my room?" He put it out there. It sounded incredibly college to him. This was the kind of thing he'd say at 18, not 28. But the whole 'do you like anyone?' conversation from earlier seemed even more immature. She nodded in agreement, blushing again. Connor put a hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the door.

He picked up the pile of coats that accumulated on his bed when they got inside and transferred it onto the bed in Oswald's room. He pulled out a sheet of paper from his printer, jotted down a quick 'coats next door' sign, and stuck it on the outside, before shutting and locking his door. Nina was checking out his computer and gaming set up at his desk. They made some small talk about the equipment before he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to himself to kiss her.

She parted her lips for him and their kiss grew deeper, more urgent. Connor was already thinking about how that mouth of hers would feel on his cock. His mind just jumped right to it, as if it were a natural connection to make. He hooked a finger in the belt loop of her jeans and pulled her over to the bed. He sat, pulling her down to sit with him, and let his hand travel up underneath her shirt. Conner hadn't given Nina's body much thought before tonight, his brain had not considered her in that way, but now that this switch had been flipped, he realized how much he liked everything about it. Her breasts were large enough to give him something to grasp onto, but they weren't actually big. 'Pleasantly sized,' he decided to call them in his head and he wanted to see them. He pulled up on the hem of her shirt and Nina pulled it off the rest of the way. Yeah, those were a beautiful set of breasts, which he went ahead and released out of the bra.

They were quiet, aside from the sound their lips made connecting with each other. Things escalated slowly until they were both lying on the bed on their sides, facing each other, naked from the waist up, with their hands in each other's unzipped jeans. Nina stroked her hand over Connor's erection, but made no move towards anything more serious, even though he could feel that she was quite thoroughly wet and ready for more. The door opened abruptly and Nina's hand released him, flying up to cover her breasts.

"Hey, umm... the door was... not closed," the guy at the door took in the scene.

"Tyler! What are you doing?!" Nina raised her voice, her eyes angrily staring him down.

"You have the lock turned, so like the knob doesn't twist, but the little... anchor doohickey wasn't actually in the wall, so just a push and the door opens," Tyler explained, still standing in the doorway.

"Tyler, close the door!" Nina shouted at him. He had a smirk on his face when he reached behind himself and pushed the door shut, leaning into it so that the latch clicked in properly.

"See, now it's locked." He demonstrated by tugging on the doorknob.

"Oh my God, I meant to close it on the other side!" Nina sat up, still covering her breasts with both arms. Connor sat up too, not sure what was going on. He remembered that Nina and Tyler came in together and she introduced him as a friend, but he really knew nothing else about the guy or why he was being such an idiot at the moment.