Free Charley by Shelby C. Jacobs Page A

both.”
    “And I screwed it up! I wondered why Roberto tried so hard to get me to come down here every night. Damn it, Charley. I am flattered to say the least. Tell me, why did you want to see me again? Young women get crushes on athletes all the time.  Most get over it. You seemed to have carried it for all these years. I bet you don’t want another picture. Tell me, what do you really want?”
    This is it. Do I dare go ahead or back down? The door’s open, so do I jump through it? Get a hold of yourself, girl, he’s just a man. I know what I want, but can I tell him?
    The handsome young coach looked at me with an expectant stare. He’d placed the situation squarely in my lap, and my body was reacting to the tension. My face was getting a bit flushed and my palms started to get a little clammy. I tried some deep breathing, but that didn’t help. I was having second thoughts, and was unsure how to respond. When this meeting was in the future, sex with Coach Mac was so obvious and easy to plan, but now he’s here and what was obvious and easy before, is a lot less obvious and, for sure, not easy anymore.
    What have I done? I really don’t know the man; after this afternoon, what I do know is not too good.  But, I’m committed to it now, I can’t back out. Do I really want to have sex with this man? Hell yes and I hope he’s as good as I think he is. I haven’t had good sex in years. Damn, I said I would do anything to get him. I can’t stop now.
    I tried to be confident. “Coach, I’ll be direct and to the point.”
    This is harder than I thought it would be.
    “I don’t want an autograph or a picture. Coach, you’re right; I do want something from you.”
    “What?”
    “You really are not making this easy.”
    “I’m sorry, maybe you should wait until some other time to tell me.”
    “No, I’m okay … I told you, I’ve occasionally had sexy dreams of us. Lately, they’ve been more frequent, and more intense. I can’t explain them, but I can’t seem to stop them either, and I don’t really want to stop them.”
    He’s going to think I’m a common whore. Here goes.
    “I wanted to see, once and for all, if you’re as sexy in reality as you are in my dreams. I need … I think I want…No, I know. I want to have sex with you. There, I said it!”
    I could feel my forehead burning up, my hands were clammy and I had a silly grin on my face.
    God, I hope he doesn’t laugh; can’t back out now. Don’t think I really want to back out, I’m ready…
     
    “Huh?” was his only response. He dipped his head to one side. A small wrinkle developed between his eyes. He closed one eye and I could see his mouth silently forming. “What the hell?”
    He couldn’t have been more surprised.
    Slowly his head rose to look me directly in the eyes. The biggest smile I have ever seen crept across his face. “Charley, you want to have sex with me? After this afternoon, are you crazy? You’re a beautiful and sexy young woman. Any idiot would jump at a chance to sleep with you. Are you sure about this? You don’t know anything about me, really. Well, except that I haven’t had sex for a few years now. I’m probably horrible at it. We met a few times, but that was a long time ago. And this afternoon, I screwed up pretty bad.”
    Feeling a bit braver, I returned his glances. “I’m sure. I have had a long time to fantasize about you. I haven’t had a serious relationship in six years, and certainly no real sex. Yeah, I’m sure. I just need to know, so I can get on with my life.”
    Coach turned serious again, “What do you mean, you need to know so you can get on with your life?”
    Damn, Coach, are you going to make me beg?
    “I need to move beyond Randle. My mind says let go but my heart can’t let go.  If I let go of the one person who really loved me, I’m afraid I might not be able to find someone else. Coach, you have been the only constant image in my mind for the last year. I have thought