Impossible Dreams

Chapter 4

Lauren came back to her apartment on Thursday night. She found
Vanessa, wearing her sleeping tee, cuddling with Jimmy in the
couch. Jimmy was topless and was wearing Vanessa's pajama boxer.
They were apparently taking a break from their lovable activity.
The TV was showing a Knicks game. They greeted Lauren.

"Why so late?" Jimmy asked her.

"I'm taking up additional hours," Lauren said. "Half time?"

"Beginning forth quarter," Jimmy said, smiling. "And I'm waiting
for a replacement off the bench. Ouch!"  He groaned when Vanessa
was apparently giving his crotch some hard time.

Lauren giggled with Vanessa. "What's the score?" she said as she
went to sit beside her roommate.

"Trailing by five," Vanessa said. "Your guy is two rebounds and
an assist from his second triple-double."

"Is Rick on the starting line-up?" Lauren asked.

"No," Jimmy said. "But he played more minutes than Jerry, much
more."

"I wonder why they won't put him on the starting line-up."

"They usually put the more experienced guy for that," Jimmy said.
"Unless he's a star player. Oh."  He sighed when the audience in
the TV jeered as a Knicks player missed a jumper. 

"Yes, pass, idiot! Fuck!"  He bawled when the Knicks grabbed the
rebound but made a shot way off the mark.

Lauren saw Rick tossing his sweat and went over to crouch in
front of the scoring table. 

"Your guy's coming in," Vanessa said.

Lauren poked Vanessa in the waist. "He's not my guy," she said.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "It's so gusty this morning the wind
blew away my sweater," she said, then turned to Jimmy. "Or did
you take it off?"

"Stop it," Lauren said, blushing. She poked Vanessa again.

"Are you sure she wasn't moaning when you saw them on the floor?"
 Jimmy asked Vanessa, while glancing at Lauren.

Lauren reached over and slapped him in the head. "Stop it, Jerk!"
she said to Jimmy as the Knicks called a time-out.

"You know," Jimmy said, returning his attention to the game. "We
have the worst starting line-up in the entire league. We have a
good B-team, and an even better C-team. Isn't that stupid?"

"Who's on the C-team?" Lauren said.

"Diesel," Jimmy said. "Peanut, and of course, your Rick. Your
Rick, your Rick."

Lauren laughed.  "Shut up!" she said, "Diesel isn't that good."

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "He can't shoot, he can't run, but he's like
a bull, he hustles. He'll throw his body at you whenever you're
in the paint. It doesn't matter if you're kicking him in the
balls, he'll go grab that rebound, and dunk it even with your
elbow in his face."

"What about Peanut, then?" Lauren said. "He can't shoot either,
and he's so small."

"Wait until you see him without his pants."

Lauren and Vanessa both bent down laughing. "He'd been in your
ass?" Vanessa struggled to say.

"Actually," Jimmy said. "He's okay in shooting, 39% from downtown
is okay. Not everyone can make 60% plus like your guy does. He's
all hustle, he's everywhere, and he does all those little things
that won't show on the stat sheets. But what's best is when he's
on the floor with your guy. He's one of the small players who can
play a screen well, especially for your guy.  He gets your guy
the path to drive in, and give him the half second needed to make
a shot."

"Oh, okay," Lauren said, "Hey, I'm going to grab a drink. What do
you guys want?"

"Is there still any beer in the fridge?" Jimmy said.

"What happened?" Lauren asked when she came out of the kitchen
with beers in her hand.

"Your guy's fouled when he was driving in," Vanessa said.
 
"I think it's a mis-call," Jimmy said. "See?  The commentators
agree. Rick was hit by Kenny, not by them. Oh, a Technical to
Johnson, too. Well, never hurts to have a few free buckets."

"That's the second Technical for Johnson," Vanessa said, "Isn't
it?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "See?  He's walking out now."

Lauren saw Rick going to the line. He missed the Technical Foul
free throw badly.

"The shot is so way off," Jimmy said, turning over to Lauren.
"It's like he missed it on purpose."

"I think he missed it on purpose," Lauren said after a while.

"Why?  What's wrong with him?  We need that basket. See? They're
calling a time-out. I think George Lamont is going to beat the
crap out of your guy."

"I think it's about fair game," Lauren said slowly. "Yeah, I know
it doesn't exist in the NBA."

"Fuck fair game," Jimmy said angrily. "They need this fucking
basket, they need this fucking game!"

Lauren saw the head coach sticking his finger at Rick's nose, and
then waving his hands as he talked to the players.

The game went on, and then it was less than a minute on the
clock.  The Knicks were trailing by six.

"Do you think they have a chance, Jim?" Vanessa said.

"Hard to tell," Jimmy said. "Oh, fuck." He groaned in a
depressing tone as the home team sank a 3-pointer.

Lauren saw Rick hit a 3-pointer. Peanut then made a steal and
dropped in a jump shot. The Knicks were trailing by four. Lauren
checked the clock on the TV screen. Less than eight seconds were
left on the clock.

"They need to make a fast bucket," Jimmy said. "And then go for a
steal or a foul, and hope they miss the shots, and then another
fast bucket. If your guy hadn't made that fucking fair game miss,
we would've been in a better position."

A few seconds later Rick was fouled near half court, before he
got anywhere near to shooting range.

"The game's over," Jimmy said in a frustrated tone as the Knicks
called their final time-out. He stared at Lauren, as if it was
her fault. "Do you know how much I want to beat the crap out of
your fucking guy now?" he said.

"We can still force an overtime," Lauren said. "He makes the
first, purposely misses the second, gets the rebound, gets out to
behind the arc, and makes a three."

Jimmy laughed with sarcasm. "Yeah," he said. "How perfect!  Who
do you think he is?  Reggie Miller?  AI?  I don't even think
either of them can make it."

Lauren didn't respond. When the commercials were over, she saw
Rick nodding as his head coach talked. Rick went slowly to the
line when the time-out was over. The home court audience was
booing loudly at him.

Rick made his first shot. The second shot hit the side of the rim
and bounced off strongly to the side, over the heads of the
players by the paint. Rick ran over to grab the ball and dashed
towards the sideline as the clock was winding down. Rick turned
around and sank in a 3-pointer to silent the home court audience.
Then they heard the buzzer.

"Oh my fucking goodness," Jimmy screamed. "Oh my fucking
goodness."  He held Vanessa forcefully in his arms, and then
kissed her madly in the face. 

"I said he could do it," Lauren said, smiling, after Jimmy had
finished pecking her cheek.

The overtime belonged to the Knicks. The buzzer beating shot Rick
made had demolished the home team's morale. They won by ten at
the end.

Lauren went into her room as Vanessa and Jimmy went for their
unfinished business. She lay in her bed waiting for Rick's call.

"Hey." 

"Hey," Lauren said. "Did you miss that free throw on purpose?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "And I thought Coach was going to beat me to
death when I saw his eyes."

Lauren laughed. "Why?" she said. "Why did you do it?"

"It was a mis-call," Rick said. "So obvious. And Johnson didn't
deserve that 'T'. It's not fair, very unfair."

"But you needed that basket."

"Yeah," Rick said. "I know. Actually, I was very sorry, right
afterward. I think I will never do it again."

"Well," Lauren said. "You'd made up for it."

"Yeah," Rick said. "Lucky me."

"It's not luck," Lauren said, giggling. "It's your will. It's the
best game I've ever seen in my life. Sportsmanship, hustle and
come back, and a miraculous buzzer-beating shot. That's just
amazing. And don't be sorry about the miss. I think you did the
right thing."

"Well," Rick said. "Right things can be costly."

"You're a man, you stick to your ground," Lauren said.

"I'll try."

"Don't call me after the Sunday game," Lauren said. "Come pick me
up at six thirty."

------------------------------------------------------------

"What are you looking at?" Lauren said, smiling, when she met
Rick at the entrance of her apartment building. 

"Nothing. Oh, I'm looking at you."

"Did you say hi to me yet?"

"Hi, Lauren."

"Are the flowers for me?"

"Yeah," Rick said, and then realized the flowers weren't in his
hand.  He picked up the roses from the door steps and gave them
to Lauren. "Sorry," he said.

"Were you staring at my legs when you picked up the roses?" she
said, sniffing the roses.

"No, of course no."

"I thought you said you never lied to me," Lauren said, smiling
again. She was wearing a mini-shirt that showed her slender legs
off very well. She had purposely left the top two buttons of her
cream satin blouse open and had worn a black bra inside.  

"Okay, I was," Rick said, reluctantly.

"And were you staring at my chest when you said hi to me?"

"Yeah. Okay, I was."

"Why?"

"Well," Rick stuttered. "You're very pretty, and... And, very
sexy."

"Am I?" Lauren said, smiling, while slowly turning and posing for
him.

"Yeah," Rick said. "Yeah, of course."

Lauren smiled again. "Are we going to eat first?" she said.

"Yeah," Rick said. "Of course. I've reserved a table."

Lauren liked it when Rick knew that he was caught looking at her
chest.  "Are you studying the menu?" she said.

"Yeah," Rick said. "I am."

"I don't think so," Lauren said, smiling. "I think you're staring
at my chest again, over and over."

Lauren knew he was flushing, even though it didn't show on his
dark face.  "Okay," he said. "Let's order.  I'm sorry. I've never
seen you dress like this."

"I didn't dress much when I was on the floor dancing," Lauren
said, after they had ordered their food.

"Well," Rick said. "That's different. You're on the floor
performing.  And, and, usually I'd be in the dressing room or
listening to Coach."

"Oh," Lauren said. "So you'd never looked at me while I was
performing?"

"Well," Rick said. "Of course I had. It's different."

"Okay," Lauren said, smiling. "So do you like it, I mean, how I
dress."

"Of course," Rick said. "Of course I like it. You know that."

"So," Lauren said, after the waitress had taken the dishes away
and gave them their coffee. "Which club are we going to?"

"Which one do you want to go to?"

"You pick."

"You pick."

"You pick," Lauren said, smiling slyly at him. "Or I'm going
home."

"Are you tired?" Lauren said, sipping her tequila cocktail at
their table in the night club.  They had not spent much time on
the floor.

"Well, uh," Rick said, a little uneasily. "Yeah, a little."

"Really?" Lauren said, smiling at him. She knew he wasn't tired.
She knew he didn't want to go to the floor with his obvious bulge
in his pants.

"Well," Rick said. "I, uh. Alright, I admit. You know why. Well,
give me a little time. You can go to the floor first if you
want."

"I can?"

"Yeah, of course. Why not."

"Do you see that guy in cowboy shirt?"

"Yeah, he's been watching you."

"Do you think he's cute?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think I should go dance with him?"

"I, uh. Nah."

"Why not?" Lauren said, giggling.

"He's interested in you."

"Is that bad?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "Okay, okay. Let's go to the floor. I don't
care."

Lauren didn't know if Rick ever liked dancing. She had never seen
him on the dancing floor before.  She knew he wasn't enjoying the
dance though. He had been trying to hide himself in the corner. 
Lauren always loved dancing.  She loved doing it all night long.
However, she knew it wasn't the dancing she was enjoying. She was
enjoying teasing him.

"Why are we leaving so fast?" Rick said, when they stepped
outside of the club about an hour later. 

"You want to go back in?" Lauren said, turning around to look at
Rick.

"Nah," Rick said. "But I thought you're going to stay here till
one or two."

"I think I'm a little tired."

"So," Rick said, carefully. "So, what now?"

"Aren't you taking me home?"

"Well," Rick said slowly. "Yeah, okay. I'm taking you home."

"This is a fire hydrant space," Lauren said, smiling at Rick,
when he stopped his car in front of her apartment building. "You
can't park here."

Rick turned to look at her.  He then pulled his car off the curb
and almost slammed his car into the meter in a nearby parking
space.

The moment Lauren locked the door behind them in her apartment,
Rick pulled her into his arms forcefully, and pressed his lips
onto hers. Lauren wrapped her arms around his neck, and sucked
his lips, then his tongue, thirstily. She rubbed her body against
his, feeling his hardness through the fabric. She felt his
breathing getting a little rapid as he also pressed himself
against her body.

Lauren broke the kiss when Rick tried to unbutton her blouse.
"Not here," she breathed. She pushed him off, kicked off her
shoes, and then held his hand, leading him into her room.

Lauren kissed Rick again when they were in her room. Rick
unbuttoned her blouse again.  And then a chill went down her
spine as his finger began running up and down her body. Her lips
went loose and she moaned into his mouth. She felt her body
quivering as his hand was cupping her breast. She broke the kiss
involuntarily when he began rubbing her nipple through the bra.
She pushed him off again.

Lauren reached behind herself and undid the clip on her skirt and
then unzipped it.  She let the skirt fall down her legs as she
undid her bra, while Rick was staring at her body through the dim
street light coming through the window. Lauren slowly lowered her
arms and let her bra fall onto the floor.  She could see his
Adam's apple moving up and down as he gulped.

Lauren reached for his shirt and began unbuttoning him as he
raised his hands to stroke her arms.  She moved her fingers on
his chest as he began stroking her back again.  Lauren moved her
face closer to his as she moved her fingers to his back, slowly
pressing her breasts on to his warm and throbbing chest. They
kissed again.

"I think my panties are soaking," Lauren breathed when they
parted the kiss. She giggled as he began reaching down to examine
her.  She let out a deep breath as he touched her groin through
the flimsy fabric. She felt very sensitive.

"They are," Rick whispered, looking in her eyes.  He began
slipping his fingers inside her waistband and rolled her panties
down. Lauren moved her arms to wrap around his neck, pulling
herself up to her toes.  Rick carried her toward her bed as
Lauren's panties slowly slid down her legs.  Rick put Lauren in
the bed and began removing the rest of his clothes.

Lauren kicked her panties off, and reached for the night table
drawer. She tore opened a packet as Rick joined her in the bed.
Lauren pushed him gently on his chest until his back was on the
sheet.  She reached for his cock, studying it through the dim
lighting for a bit, before she wrapped the condom over the tip of
his cock.  She ran her fingers up and down his cock as she pulled
it down, looking at Rick's eyes.  She continued caressing his
cock after it was done, extending each stroke a little towards
his balls.

"Don't," Rick said, panting a little. "I'm going to explode."

"Really?" Lauren said, giggling. "You aren't, are you? You can't.
 You aren't going to explode without making me happy first, are
you?"

Rick pulled her down to him, kissing her fervently, and rubbing
all over her body.  Lauren returned the kiss passionately, while
rubbing her breasts against his chest, and grinding her groin
against his shaft. She felt a combination of chill and heat on
her skin, as well as a sense of hollowness growing within her.
Rick began slipping a hand between their bodies, inching toward
her groin.

Lauren moaned uncontrollably when she felt his fingers over her
labia. She knew she was very wet, because his fingers became damp
at once on contact. "You're very wet," Rick whispered.

"I know, silly," Lauren breathed. She could almost feel herself
emitting as he ran his fingers around her labia. Her knees
shuddered uncontrollably. She intuitively raised her hips in
anticipation of an intrusion. She let out a sigh as she felt a
finger tip sliding inside her. She moaned loudly. 

Lauren couldn't stand it anymore. She spread herself wide open
and reached for Rick's cock, while pulling on his arm. Rick
slowly retreated from playing with her pussy and positioned
himself between her legs.  She guided his cock towards her
wetness.

Lauren saw Rick's eyes looking deep into hers, as she felt his
tip entering her pussy. A turgid and warm feeling began filling
up her emptiness, sending another big chill into her body. The
chills intensified as he pushed himself deeper and deeper into
her. Lauren moaned as she raised her hip to meet him. She let out
a sigh as he bottomed out, filling her entire hollow with his
warmth. It felt like he was pressing right up against her cervix.

Lauren lowered her hips as he began withdrawing, and running her
fingers indiscriminately over his body. She locked her eyes into
his, smiling and moaning as he thrust and pulled out. The fiction
of the movements was sending enchanting currents to her entire
body. He began moving faster and harder, sending more chills down
her spine. He had also begun groaning intermittently and
breathing faster. She moved her hips faster and faster, feeling
the friction caused by his cock stroking inside her getting
intensified.

Lauren began biting her lip as the chills were sending her nearer
and nearer the summit. She saw him tightening his teeth as he
began pounding on her with rapid and deep thrusts. She dug her
finger nails deep into his ass cheeks and pulled him as deeply as
possible. Lauren started feeling his cock pulsating inside her.
She saw his face turning a little pale. Rick was gnashing his
teeth fiercely, as he pounded her vehemently. She hoped he could
last a little longer, as she knew she was about there.

Lauren felt as if a series of lightening bolts had struck her.
She began experiencing rapid roller-coaster runs inside her, each
new peak taking her climax a little higher. Her vision became
blurry. She could not make a sound. She could not breath. Her
entire body was trembling. Then she felt herself falling flat
onto the bed, panting loudly, and she felt sulky warm all over.

Rick was gapping his mouth atop her, his eyes a little blank.
Lauren didn't feel his cock pulsating. She knew Rick had finished
shooting inside her. Rick's arms were a little shaky, and he had
begun panting as well. She also felt the turgidity inside her
starting to fade, although the feeling was still enthralling.

Lauren smiled at Rick, and he struggled to smile back at her. His
smile soon grew bigger and more contentedly.  They looked at each
other's eyes for a while before Rick slowly moved to her side,
withdrawing his deflated cock from her, leaving behind a trace of
wetness on her hip.

Rick lay beside Lauren, sliding an arm underneath her neck, and
leaned over to kiss her on her forehead. Lauren tilted her head
until their lips touched, and they kissed again, tenderly this
time. When the kiss was over, Lauren moved her head over to rest
on his chest, listening to his heartbeat while he was stroking
her shoulder and back.

"I can't believe this," Lauren said softly.

"Me too," Rick said, also softly.

"This is amazing."

"Yeah, it is."

"You're not leaving here tonight."

"I ain't leaving."

"Don't follow my line," Lauren said, giggling. "Say something
new."

"You came awfully hard."

"I did."

"Always like that?"

"I wish," Lauren said, smiling. "I don't always. Actually, not
very often."

"I'm that good?"

"You wish!" Lauren said, giggling again. "I haven't had it for
too long."

"How long?"

"You?"

"A few weeks," Rick said. "You?"

"A long while."  

"How long is 'a long while'?"

"Shut up."

"How long?"

"Next topic."

Rick chuckled. "That's quite a long while," he said.

"Told you," she said, laughing.

Rick began stroking her hair. "You know," he said. "I've never
been so crazy about a woman in my entire life. You're driving me
nuts, over and over."

"Is that good or bad?" Lauren said, tilting her head to look at
his face.

"Both," Rick said. "I don't know how to deal with you."

"My goodness," Lauren said with mock anger. "You finally got me
into bed, and now you're thinking about dumping me?"

"No," Rick said, laughing. "I don't mean that. I ain't going to
dump you. No way. Never. Know what?"

"What?"

Rick took a deep breath. "If there's one thing I have faith in,"
he said, looking in her eyes. "That's about my feeling at you.
Not championship, not a ring, not any woman, not anything, but
about you."

Lauren dug her face in his chest so he couldn't see her smiling.
"That's nice sweet talk," she said.

"It ain't," Rick said. "Time will tell."

"Well," Lauren said. "Hey."

"Huh?"

"You said you never have to worry about women, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then why a few weeks? Why not since last night?" 

"What do you mean?" Rick said. "Oh, the how long thing?"

"Yeah," Lauren said, giggling.

"Well," Rick said. "They became bad. I mean, okay. The last one,
I mean the last time. I was hard when I drove her home, but I
went limp when I was in the bed."

Lauren giggled. "You're a useless jerk," she said.

Rick laughed. "Yeah," he said. "She tried jacking me off and it
didn't help at all".

Lauren giggled again. "So now you're saying you're jerk-less"?

Rick grinned. "She then tried blowing me and got very frustrated
when that didn't work".  I was very scared, too, but doc said
nothing was wrong with me. He said it could be the pressure, said
I need rests, and told me not to try Viagra."

Lauren giggled again. "So?" she said.

Rick laughed again. "Well," he said. "I knew I didn't need
Viagra, too, that night."

"You slept with a better woman?"

"Nah," Rick said as he was struggling from laughing too hard. "I
beat myself off."

Lauren laughed. "Guess that proves it, I've been telling you that
you were a jerk since forever," she said. 

"Well," Rick continued. "And then I knew what the problem was."

"What was it?"

"Well," Rick said. "Well, okay. Don't get mad, okay?"

"Okay," Lauren said. Then she realized. She blushed. "Oh my
goodness, you really are the dirtiest jerk in the world."

Rick was laughing embarrassingly when Lauren tilted her head to
look at him. She hit his chest with her fist. "Jerk," she said,
laughing, and shaking her head.

"They were so good," Rick said. "I didn't need women in bed
anymore, until tonight. It beats everything."

"My goodness," Lauren struggled to say. "Damn. They? Oh my
goodness. You weren't doing it everyday, were you?"

"Well," Rick said. "Yeah, I was." He laughed.

Lauren shook her head again. "Even on that day?" she said.

"That day?" Rick said. "Oh, that day. Well, you don't want to
know."

"I want to know."

"You don't."

"I do. Shut up and tell," Lauren said, giggling.

"Well, I nearly passed out."

"What?" Lauren said. "You passed... Oh my goodness. You're, my
goodness, I can't believe this." She began laughing with tears in
her eyes.

Rick began stroking her hair again as they slowly let their
laughter subside.

"Don't you ever dare to do it again," Lauren said, smiling.

Rick started to laugh again. "Okay," he said.

"There are more condoms in the drawer," Lauren said, giggling.
"If I can move a finger in the morning, you're not going to see
me again."

Rick laughed again. "That's going to be tough," he said.

When Lauren woke up the next morning, she found her head on
Rick's chest. He was stroking her hair.

"Good Morning," she said, slowly moving her fingers to his chest.

"Morning," Rick said. "How's the sleep?"

"Did I sleep on your chest the whole night?"

"Nah," Rick said. "I pulled you over. I love smelling your hair."

Lauren giggled. "Hey," she said.

"What?"

"What is this?" she said, raising her finger into the air.

"Your finger."

"Is it moving?"

Rick laughed. He pulled her in the armpits until her lips where
within reach, and kissed her.

"No," Lauren said, after the kiss. Rick was trying to roll her
over.  "It's almost eight now. I'm working today."

"Where will you be in the afternoon?"

"At work," Lauren said. "I'm taking up more hours."

"Okay. But you don't have practices in the evening now, do you?"

"Seven."

"What?"

"I get off at seven," Lauren said, giggling.