Full Court Press Page 12

  “Heard you got some last night,” Beck said, leaning against the doorway.

  “Yeah, man, she wore me out.” Anderson groaned and stretched lazily.

  “Send her packin’?”

  “Psh, I dunno, last thing I remember is falling asleep with her on top of me. She must have taken off.”

  “Still got your wallet?”

  “Oh come on, can’t you just accept that girls do me without money exchange?”

  “I can’t figure out why they would, unless of course, they’ve never heard of me.”

  “Oh, you’re hilarious.”

  “It’s true. I mean you have a girl living with you, and she still came to me for it.”

  Carmondy scowled. Now she was a part of the conversation?

  Anderson leaned around Beck to look at Carmondy. “Did he kiss you?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “When you guys did it, did he kiss you?”

  She groaned. “Can we just go?”

  Anderson looked around. “Why do you need to wait for us?”

  “My car’s still at his place.”

  Anderson looked a little puzzled.

  Beck shook his head. “She was all dizzy and weirded out this morning. She would’ve gotten in an accident or something.”

  “Well, Jesus Christ, Beck. Take it easy on her next time,” Anderson joked, slapping him on the shoulder.

  Carmondy groaned and followed them downstairs. They were the worst when they were around each other.

  Anderson complained that he didn’t want to drive either, so they all ended up getting into Beck’s BMW. Carmondy climbed into the back seat quickly. She was still a little shaken up and just wanted to get to the school so that she didn’t have to be in close proximity with Beck anymore. The second he stopped the car, she was out and jogging for the doors before they could even get out of the car. She hurried into the locker room and ran headlong into Kendall.

  Car glanced around. She didn’t want to talk about this here, not in front of a bunch of girls. She grabbed Kendall’s arm and pulled her into the locker room’s office, shutting the door behind her.

  “What’s up?” Kendall asked, sitting on the desk.

  Car sighed and paced the room for a moment. “Okay, so I had a dream.”

  “Yeah, okay, Martin Luther King.”

  Car frowned at her.

  “Okay, okay, sorry, go ahead. You had a dream. And this was just last night?”

  “Okay, well, anyway. I had a dream, and it was me and...a guy.”

  “Who?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Well, sort of. I mean, I guess not if it was a complete stranger but if you actually know him, then...yeah, it matters.”

  “Okay, well...it was Beck.”

  Kendall rubbed her hands together. “Ooh, I like this dream already. Continue, continue.”

  “Well, how do I put this? We, um, got physical...”

  Kendall put a hand up to stop her. “Okay, Car, I’m gonna be honest here. We’re not twelve. We can use sex words.”

  Carmondy nodded. “Right, right...yes, okay. We had sex. He also...gave me a mind-blowing hand job and...oral. Along with some other...weird things and talking things.”

  Kendall clapped her hands. “That’s so frickin’ hilarious! I wish I had dreams like this.”

  “But the catch is that I was, like, tied up? Well, more like chained up, to his bed, like spread eagle?”

  “Well, but it was still consensual, not like a rape thing, wasn’t it?”

  “No, not at all. It was consensual. Wow. I mean, I’ve never done anything like that before. I still haven’t because that was just a dream but I’m really confused.”

  “You had a dream about kinky sex. What’s confusing? It sounds nice to me.”

  “But I don’t like kinky sex.”

  “You just said that you’ve never had it except for in this dream, which was amazing, so how do you know?”

  “It was a dream. I don’t think I would be into it in real life.”

  “I guess I’m just not seeing the problem here,” Kendall said, looking confused.

  “It’s just that, isn’t it wrong? Shouldn’t I feel like...dirty?”

  “What? No way. I hate it that society has this big taboo about bondage and stuff. It’s just sex in a different way, with a few toys and whatnot, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, anything can be taken too far but in general, it’s just a different way to do things. You’re a young, sexually active teenager, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a healthy, exploratory sex drive.”

  Wow, she felt loads better already. “Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. I guess it just surprised me that my mind came up with all that, you know?”

  “Yeah, I’ve dreamed about some really funky things.”

  “Also, I just feel really weird around Beck now. I felt weird around him before but now I’m afraid that he’s gonna find out that I dreamed that and then he’s gonna want to do it.”

  “And you would be against that?” Kendall asked calmly, sounding very much like a psychologist.

  “Well, I think I would but I guess I don’t know.”

  “First of all, he’s not going to find out unless you tell him. I’m certainly not going to tell him. Second of all, Beck is a jerk, but he’s not going to force anything on you. He’s just not that kind of guy. Third, you need to relax and stop thinking about it. If you guys ever have sex again you can decide if you want to bring it up, and if not, maybe the next time, or the time after that. And who knows? Maybe he’d be into it, maybe he wouldn’t. But if it keeps bothering you that much, the only way you are going to get over it is to get it out of your system.”

  “And by that you mean...have kinky sex.”

  “Of some degree, whatever you’re comfortable with. Some of it is nothing more than a blindfold and dirty talk. No big deal at all.”

  Carmondy felt a lot better now, though she was still going to be awkward around Beck. “Anderson tells me that when you guys were together you were into that stuff.”

  “Well, since I wasn’t into the actual sex part, we needed something to spice up what we could do. Hand, oral, dirty talk, tied up, stuff like that.” She said it like it wasn’t a big deal at all. “Andy is so uninhibited. We had a blast.” She sighed longingly.

  “Some of it sounds interesting but you’re right, there is this taboo around it, like society wants you to feel bad about being interested in it.”

  “Yep, pretty much.”

  “Hmm...well, I feel a lot better now.”

  “Good.” Kendall hopped off the desk. “I’m glad I could help. But tell me more about his dream. You crammed oral, hand action and regular sex all into one dream?”

  “Yeah, he didn’t give me much of a break.” Carmondy grinned.

  Kendall laughed. “Oh my God, that is priceless. But it was still good though? He didn’t rush it?”

  “Oh no, he took his time. Dragging it out until I...”

  “Until you what?” Kendall asked, excitedly.

  “Screamed?”

  Kendall laughed again. “Oh, this is great. Beck needs to pay my dreams a visit.”

  “God, I thought I was going to explode. And, I mean...I was chained up or whatever and it wasn’t like all lovey dovey by any means. But it was weird, because I was all vulnerable or whatever, there was this trust, and it made it really…”

  “Intimate?” Kendall filled in.

  “Yeah, but I don’t know if that was just my dream doing that or what but—”

  “It wasn’t. That’s how it is. That’s what makes it so great. That, and being all tied up makes you hot.”

  Carmondy couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah...wow. Okay, we really need to get to the gym now.”

  “Psh, no one cares, this is just real casual. But you’re right, we should go. I want to go look at Beck and try to imagine your dream...except with me in your place.”

  They left the locker room toget
her and entered the gym. Everyone was spread out, shooting hoops or messing around. The coaches were in the corner chatting. They looked odd. They weren’t wearing the usual slacks and polos but track pants and T-shirts instead.

  Kendall and Carmondy immediately found Beck in the crowd. He was at a hoop alone, shooting free throws.

  Kendall shook her head. “You are so damn lucky.”

  “Oh my God, you should have seen me this morning though. I was freaking out. I don’t know why. I woke up and Beck was there, and it had felt so real that I was like all weak and dizzy and stuff. I almost fell down and Beck wouldn’t let me drive and—”

  “Whoa, he was like...concerned?”

  Carmondy cocked her head and thought. “Wow...yeah, I guess he was. I mean I couldn’t tell because he was all like, up in my face, pin me to wall about it but—”

  “Oh! You know what? Beck has a piece of kinky sex furniture at his house!”

  “What? Why?”

  “Well, we couldn’t keep it at Anderson’s place and we definitely couldn’t keep it at my place, so we stashed it in one of Beck’s closets. I’m sure it’s still there. It’s the wedge and ramp combo.”

  “Okay, nice to know, I guess.”

  “I mean just in case you feel like getting your kink on. It’s really pretty soft-core stuff.”

  “Uh huh. Well, my plan is to not have sex with Beck a second time so I’m guessing that’s a no on the sex furniture.”

  She shrugged. “Well, it’s there if you change your mind.”

  “Thanks. I told Beck that I’d help him with his homework today, you know, like the scribe thing? And also, we were going to work on my post moves.”

  “Oh, and you think that you’re gonna be able to resist him? I don’t think so!”

  * * *

  After the shoot-around, Beck had driven them back to Anderson’s house. He hung around with Anderson, probably talking sex, while Car took a shower and changed into comfortable clothing.

  Once they were at Beck’s house alone, Carmondy’s self-consciousness started to kick in. Every time she looked at him, her mind would flash with a vision from her dream. It was very distracting so she kept her eyes down on the paper as he spoke the answers aloud.

  Beck sighed and leaned back. This assignment seemed harder than the last one. The numbers had to be more precise and the worksheet that she was filling out looked very complicated. Beck rattled off a few more numbers before dropping the book to the table with a solid thump.

  “I need a fucking break.” He stood up and made his way over to the kitchenette.

  Carmondy didn’t move from the table as he grabbed a bottle of water out of his fridge and downed half of it in one drink.

  “You wanna go work on that basketball stuff for a while?”

  She really didn’t. That would put her in close contact with him. At the same time, she wasn’t sure if she could sit at this table any longer. “Yeah, I guess.”

  He headed out the front door and she followed. He led her around the back of the house to where the roof continued out from the house, high enough to play basketball under. There were three walls. One was the side of the house and the other two were Plexiglas floor to ceiling, leaving the backside of the little court open. She stepped inside.

  “Wow, this is really cool.”

  Beck shrugged and went to the corner where there were a few basketballs, dumbbells, a stash of CDs and a little boombox all sitting on a set of shelves. “My dad had it built a few years ago, back when having a son who played basketball was cool.”

  “And now it’s not?”

  “Nope, now the son has to be applying to law school and getting straight A’s.”

  “Oh.”

  He grabbed a ball and bounced it experimentally a couple times. Car turned around, taking in the little court, and noticed little vents on the floor along the edges. “This thing is heated?”

  “Well, duh, basketball is a winter sport.” He bounced the ball at her and she caught it. “So you want post moves, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, they aren’t gonna happen way over there. Come on.” He motioned her over.

  She came over, standing a few feet away from him.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “That’s not going to work either. You do know what a post is, right?” He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, putting her back to him and pulling her close. “Okay, so you have the ball, I’m guarding you. What do you do?”

  “Uhh...”

  “First, chin it. Strong hands, or I’m gonna slap it away.” His hand came around and slapped the ball to the floor, proving his point.

  She scowled and grabbed the ball, holding it strong between her hands.

  “Next, you need to figure out which way I’m guarding you. If I’m up high,” he touched the right side of her rib cage, “then you roll low. And if I’m guarding low,” he touched the left side of her rib cage, “then you roll high. Simple. So pick a direction and do it.” He put a hand up and pressed his body to her right side, cutting off her ability to go high so she did one power dribble and stepped around him, shooting the ball.

  He had obviously let her have it just to show the point.

  They repeated that a couple more times. He would pick a side to guard, forcing her in the other direction. Each time he put a little more pressure on her, making her actually use some of her strength to push him out of the way.

  “All right.” He grabbed the ball from her. “Honestly, I think you’ve got the basics for that down pretty well. You just need time and practice like anyone else. But this only applies when you are down here, posting up. I don’t think you are actually going to be doing that. You’re a power forward so you won’t be receiving passes down here like Sydney or Torie. You’ll be dribbling down here and that’s a whole different story.”

  He motioned for her to go out to the perimeter and bounced the ball to her. “Your dribbling skills are pretty good, and you’re quick, but if you come up against someone who’s quicker than you, which you will, you’re gonna have to use moves that rely more on muscles than speed. So come at me, try to get by me. You’re not going to be able to, of course, but try it. I want to see what moves you rely on.”

  She frowned a little bit. Of course she wasn’t going to get by him. He was a damn starting varsity center sitting at a powerful six foot three.

  “I’m waiting. Go game speed.”

  “In a game, I wouldn’t dribble right at a post.”

  “No, but you would dribble if you saw a hole open up and I would come over from the help-side to stop you, which would put me right here. So go.”

  He was right. She was rarely going to get a wide open lane. She dribbled in place for a moment, planning her attack before she went at him. She dribbled right at him and then dropped her shoulder and tried to slide by him, jumping toward the basket.

  It worked about as well as she had predicted, which was not well at all. Running into him was like running into a brick wall. When she shot, his long arm came up and batted the ball down easily.

  “Okay...that might’ve worked if I was five foot one and weighed fifty pounds.”

  She snatched the ball away from him. “Shut up and tell me what I did wrong.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was just the wrong move to work on me when I was that low on the block. If I had been higher that might’ve worked, not on me, but probably most of the posts in your league.”

  He wasn’t being mean, just honest. He was right. There weren’t any girls in high school with his size and talent. If she could get by him, she could get by anyone.

  “Try it again.”

  She nodded and came at him again. This time, she used a crossover move and jump shot to try to get over him but he was too quick and tall, and wasn’t letting her have any for free.

  He gave her the ball back. “Again.”

  She clenched her teeth together. She was determined to at least get off a good shot this time. She dri
bbled right at him, connecting her shoulder with his chest and attempting to muscle him out of the way. It gave her enough room to get a decent shot off, even though it didn’t go in.

  “Nice,” Beck said, grabbing the ball before it bounced away. “That’s what you need to be doing. You have the strength for it.”

  “It didn’t go in.”

  “No, you shot crooked. You need to square up.”

  She stopped and put her hands on her hips to catch her breath. She liked this. She liked getting physical. These moves were going to be really useful to her in game. He was right, she wasn’t going to come up against any posts that were as tall or as strong as him. Even better, she was so busy focusing on what moves to use on him that the dream was out of her mind.

  She still noticed when his hand ended up on her hip or waist but it didn’t bother her, at least not when they were on the court. This was nice Beck, who didn’t insult her or make crude jokes, and she liked it.

  “Should we call it a day?” Beck asked, rubbing his chest. “I think I’m gonna bruise.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been playing basketball all week. Our bodies deserve a rest.”

  Beck nodded and set the ball back on the shelf with the others. “Yeah, they do deserve a rest. From basketball.”

  It was spoken so casually that Carmondy wasn’t sure if it was suggestive or not. “We should go back inside, finish your homework. I’ve got to get home.”

  “You’re going home?”

  “Yeah, I’m out of clothes.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  She thought that she heard a shade of disappointment in his voice, but knew she must have imagined it.

  They left the court and went back into the house.

  “Your road is still blocked off, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I’ll check on my way out, but I’m sure it is.”

  “Are you coming back tonight then?”

  “Uh, what do you mean?”

  “Just that you either have to come back tonight or wake up hella early in the morning to make it to school on time.”

  “Oh, yeah, I dunno. I’ll see how I feel, I guess.”

  “You should come back tonight and swing by here,” Beck said, sitting down to his homework again.

  Carmondy sat down at the table and picked up the pencil. “Why?”