Prologue: Joker's Wild

When my wake-up call came at 10:30, David and I were in the shower. His hair is glorious wet, by the way. It hangs almost halfway down his back and is VERY sexy. We had ordered room service earlier and had a nice breakfast together. The minutes were ticking away, however, and pretty soon it would be time for me to go. David should have gone home long ago. It’s a good thing the guys are off tonight; he’d have been dog tired at the show.

David found my last tattoo several hours ago, and thought it was funny. We spent a good deal of the night in bed, and didn’t waste a minute sleeping. We made love to each other, but we talked, too, and found that we actually have a lot in common besides just being smart-asses and hellions in bed (ha ha). I couldn’t help but wonder what he’s going to tell his friends. Hell, what was I going to tell my friends? That was one thing we didn’t talk about.

Wrapped in hotel robes, we sat across from each other at the little table in the room, sipping coffee; neither of us saying a word until David cleared his throat. “So, now what?” he asked softly. I knew what he meant, but I didn’t know what he wanted to hear. I couldn’t do anything except tell the truth.

“Now, I guess I go back to my life in Boston, and I imagine you get back to your life,” I whispered, looking away. God, I didn’t want to tear up, but it had just been such a wonderful, beautiful night, and I was just so damned tired, I couldn’t keep my emotions in check. This is why I hide behind my smart ass persona. I don’t like it that I have so little control over my emotions otherwise.

David reached out to take my hand and gently tugged, getting me to stand up. He wrapped me in a hug, kissed the top of my head, and sighed. I sighed too. He smelled like hotel soap, but there was his scent underneath, and I wanted to remember that smell forever. I gripped the lapels of the robe, and wouldn’t let go. I let out a shaky breath that I hoped would go unnoticed, but, of course it didn’t.

“Oh, Hath,” he said, “don’t be sad, baby.” He hugged me tight then reached out to take my blackberry from the table. David programmed something into it while he held me in his arms. Then he called his cell from my phone so he’d have my number. “I gave you my number. You feel free to use that anytime, sweetheart,” he said, sliding the device back onto the table. “I mean that.” He pulled back to look at me. “Hath, I would like to see where this can go.”

“Really?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You mean that this isn’t just some,” I struggled to find the right words and had to settle for, “little fling?”

David shook his head. “It can be, if that’s what you want it to be, but it’s not often I meet someone who can give just as good as she gets, verbally, physically, and sexually.” He was stroking my back, and I couldn’t remember a time when I felt more content. He continued, “I love talking to you, sparring with you, and fucking with you, and I don’t want to give that up.” He kissed me sweetly. “We’ll work it out,” he said seriously, kissing me again.

I leaned back in his arms to look into his eyes. “You’re not just saying that because you think it’s what I want to hear?” What the hell did I say that for?

He just shook his head. “Nope. I’ve been done with telling girls what they want to hear for some time now. It doesn’t do anybody any good to lie.” Well, he has a point there. I nodded and untied his robe, pressing into his skin. He untied my robe too, and we found ourselves back in bed.

When David and I had finally emerged from my room at noon, hand-in-hand (and freshly re-showered), we ran into Stephanie in the hall. She was with a tall, gorgeous guy that had to be WKG. Yum. Way to go Stephanie! We looked at each other, and she gave me a knowing look, and I turned a zillion shades of red. Oh God, I hope she didn’t hear me last night. She flicked her gaze to David, smiled at me and gave me a hug, and whispered, “deets, Goddess” in my ear, which made me laugh.

“Have you seen Lucy this morning?” I asked her.

“Nope,” Steph replied. “Guess we’ll have to catch up with her later. What time’s your train?”

“12:30,” I said, glancing at David then back to Stephanie. “But, Steph, there’s another at 3 I could take if you wanna grab lunch or something.” David squeezed my hand.

“Jesus, I’d love to, Hath, but we have a six-hour drive ahead of us. I definitely want to debrief you, though,” she said, making David choke back a laugh. “You can bet I'll call you later,” she said.

We made our way down to the front desk, and I went to settle up. When I asked for my bill, the clerk tapped a few keys on the computer and told me it was all taken care of. I turned to David, who said “Don’t look at me, babe.” I asked the clerk if there was a message or something for me, and she checked, and sure enough, there was yet another note with my name written in that now unmistakable scrawl across the front.

Hello Hathor!

You came all this way to see me, the least I could do was put you up. We hope you had a helluva time; it was great to meet you. I may just have to start betting more often! Have a safe trip back up to beantown; I’m sure we’ll see you there next summer.

R

PS, Way to go, D!

I blushed and showed the note to David, and he chuckled. “How’d he know you’d be here?” I asked him.

He just laughed at me. “Hath, he’s known me most of my life. He knows when I’m interested in someone, and damn if we weren’t shooting sparks at each other last night...” he trailed off. “Suffice it to say, he could tell.” I smiled and looped an arm around his waist, and we left the hotel.

David and I had lunch together (I opted for the later train anyway), and he waited with me at the station although I told him he didn’t have to. We just sat there, holding hands and chatting about inconsequential things. I waited until the final boarding call and looked at him. “I guess that’s my cue,” I said on a sigh, and gathered my things and went out to the platform.

With a tender kiss, David handed me up into the train. When I got settled in my seat, I looked out the window at David, who was watching for me. When the train gave a lurch and started to move, he kissed his fingers and waved to me. I returned the gesture, a sad smile on my face. I watched until I couldn’t see him anymore, then yawned and stretched. I was exhausted. Luckily, Boston is the end of the line, and I could just settle in and sleep until we got there. I sensed someone sitting next to me, and turned to look at my neighbor. Funny coincidence, it was Marcus, the guy I pissed off on the way down. He looked like he was going to bolt, and I laughed.

“Don’t worry, Marcus; I’m just going to sleep. I won’t bother you,” I said. That’s just what I did, too; I was just so bone tired.

When I got home, I dumped my bags on the floor in the entryway, and grabbed my blackberry. I was dying to hear about Lucy’s night, and needed a distraction. Scrolling through the numbers, I saw that David had programmed his number in under “Joker” which made me laugh. He’d put in his e-mail address, too. Call me old-fashioned or even a little insecure, but I wanted him to make the first move. I still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t all just a wonderfully tawdry, exquisitely dirty one-time episode. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about it either way. I was, however, sufficiently distracted now.

I sat for a while, with a dopey smile on my face, reliving the last thirty-six hours. I found it hard to believe that the night I’d been looking forward to for more than 6 weeks had come and gone. I found it even harder to believe what had happened with me and David. What wasn’t hard to believe was the instant camaraderie I had with the other girls. We just got along as if we’d known each other forever instead of just a few months. I was surprised at the way the guys, yeah those guys, were really just normal guys. I mean, stars always say “I’m just like everyone else” but these guys meant it. They were the nicest group of guys you could hope to meet.

So, back to David. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve always been a Richie Girl; always lusted for the wingman. All I can say is that this thing with David is the difference between having a crush on someone you don’t know, and having chemistry with someone you do. Am I saying that all of a sudden Richie looks like a brother to me? Nope. I’m just saying that the chemistry just wasn’t there (amazing kiss notwithstanding), and it was instant with David.

This connection with David came out of left field, and I can honestly say, I didn’t see it coming. I sighed and started pacing around the room and having a chat with the little bitch that lives in my head. That’s what I do when I need to think, and she never pulls any punches. I tried to answer her accusations objectively.

We met when I was high on endorphins and not a little bit of frustrated sexual energy. But we did click immediately.

We did a fair bit of sparring and it got pretty flirtatious, on the border of foreplay actually. But it wasn’t one-sided, and I didn’t start it.

I did sleep with him the first night I met him. OK, that isn’t like me at all, and I’m not sure that I’m exactly proud of that, but I didn’t leave the party with him. He’s the one that sought me out, and I think we both needed some sort of release after what happened at the party. Honestly, if he hadn’t pursued it, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But he did, and I don’t really know what to do about that.

Even if this doesn’t go anywhere, I honestly had the absolute best time of my entire life. If he really wants to see where this will go, or if it will even go, that’s fine. If he doesn’t, that’s fine too. We’ve really just met, and it’s not like it was love at first sight or anything. If it turns out that we’re better suited to be friends than lovers, well, that’s more than I had even dared to hope for. If it turns out we’re suited to be lovers, well, that’s real good too.

Satisfied that I won the argument with the little bitch, I made a decision and headed down to Rhode Island, to the shop where I’ve gotten most of my other ink done. I just now decided to make an adjustment to the fourth tat, and they were open late on Fridays.

In case you’re curious, the fourth tat is a small-of-the-back standard Jovi heart-and-dagger tat – what my brother lovingly calls a “tramp stamp”. Nice, huh? Now, before you judge me, let me tell you that I got stamped when I was 18. At the time, the late 80’s if you must know, it was quite daring for a girl to get inked, not to mention inked in the small of her back. The tat was due for a touch-up, so the timing of my inspiration was perfect. The guy there didn’t ask any questions, which is what I like about that place. The just do your ink, and unless there’s a problem, you don’t hear his voice again until he says, “all set.” My cell buzzed a couple times while I was on the chair, and I didn’t answer it; I wasn’t ready to talk about my experience yet, and I knew it had to be Stephanie and Lucy.

When I got home, I admired the work in the mirror. In a delicate script, across the banner, I now sported the phrase “Joker’s Wild”.

Whether this thing with David is forever or just for now, it’s momentous enough to commemorate. I sighed and reached for the Blackberry, which had its little red “you’ve got voicemail” light blinking to beat the band. I couldn’t put the sistas off anymore.

I checked the screen, and let out a little scream. He called.