Free His Leading Lady by Jean Joachim

sleep for Penny and finding her not there woke
him up early. His body was sore from the fight and his heart from
the loss of his girlfriend. Coffee burned his sensitive lip, but he
drank it down anyway. He needed something to get him started. His
body was heavy from sadness. A shower pounding on his bruises hurt,
but the pain woke him up.
    Tension built as he left his car and headed
for the locker room. Every muscle was drawn tight as he walked
through the door. When his teammates noticed him, all talking
stopped. Mark felt their stares. They dressed for practice in
silence. Sweetwater brushed by him, not looking like he was in any
better shape than Mark.
    I can’t afford to lose five grand. Megan
is going to kill me. The fight. Penny. Better not call her for a
few days. He walked out onto the field, his muscles stiff. No
one made mention of the fight or the photos. The laps and warm-ups
relaxed and stretched his tense and battered body. The coach looked
madder than ever as they ran through their plays. Mark’s game was
off. He struggled to get his concentration back.
    After practice, Harley came up to him in the
locker room. “How you doin’, buddy?”
    “Don’t ‘buddy’ me. Why didn’t you take those
stupid pictures down?”
    “Hey, I got here about thirty seconds before
you did.”
    “Really?”
    “I may be a lot of things, Mark, but not a
liar. I would’ve taken ’em down if I’d seen them before you.”
    “Okay.” Harley’s explanation soothed Mark.
Then, his conscience started to bother him. What if Penny had an
explanation like Harley did? I didn’t even let her talk.
    “Let’s get wasted tonight.”
    “Nah. Don’t feel like it.”
    “We’ll pick up a couple of chicks, get
laid…come on. Be good for you.” Harley clapped him on the
shoulder.
    He flinched as the friendly gesture landed on
his bruised flesh.
    “Sorry,” Harley mumbled.
    The thought of sleeping with anyone but Penny
turned him off. She’s the top. Nothing less will do. He
stroked his chin. “How about we eat in and watch a movie?”
    Harley made a face. “I want some action.”
    Mark cocked an eyebrow at his friend. “Does
my sister know you’re out tomcatting?”
    “She wouldn’t commit to me.”
    “Shows good sense on her part.”
    “Thanks for nothing.”
    “Come on, Harley. I’ll put Meg on speaker
phone.”
    “Are you gonna to hide out for the rest of
your life, or are you gonna live?”
    “Man, I just broke up with the love of my
life, gimme a break, will ya?”
    “Okay, okay. Go home and sulk. I’m going
out.” Harley slapped some aftershave on his face and shook his
head.
    One by one, his teammates stopped by to slap
Mark on the shoulder or the butt before they left. No one said a
word about Penny or the pictures. They pity me. God, that’s
almost worse. Mark couldn’t remember when he was this
depressed.
    He drove slowly, not anxious to be in the
apartment without her. She had become a fixture. He had looked
forward to getting home and talking about his day, what he did
right and what he did wrong on the field. She was a good listener.
Penny had a way of joking him out of a bad mood, or, if that
failed, loving him out of one.
    He’d never had a woman who cared for him the
way she did. Or who could love him like she did. She was fire,
igniting him in a matter of seconds whenever she turned up the
flame. He craved her—her soft, smooth skin, the subtle scent of
lily about her, and the taste of her lips, her mouth, her body. Was
this love? Probably. Come and gone so quickly, he’d barely had time
to grasp it with his heart before it was torn from him, leaving him
bloodied inside and out.
    A couple of days later, the dark cloud still
hovered over his emotions. Misery was his companion. The clink of
his keys in the bowl by the door echoed in the empty space. He
sighed. The silence reminded him that Penny wasn’t there. No cheery
greeting. No wonderful smells of dinner cooking. No soft, willing
woman