Hey Everyone – I am sad to say that this is the final chapter of Playing Games. Since this was my first fan fic, I really didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect it to be this long. I looked at the word count the other day and couldn't believe it. I really enjoyed writing it and looked forward to all your reviews. I appreciate every single one of them and they kept me motivated to continue forward. I really, really hope you enjoy this last chapter. I have a few ideas for other fics, but I don't know when I will get started on them. I am currently seven and a half months pregnant with my first baby, and I have so much stuff to do. Once I go on maternity leave from work, I promise to start something new. I will probably be bored and going out of my mind at home. Again, thank you for all your support. You all made writing my first fan fic a positive one.
Kirsten Cohen rolled over in her bed and stretched out her arm reaching for her husband. Her hand was met with cold, high thread count sheets. She sighed, knowing that his love of surfing took over his body at such an early hour. She could never understand being addicted to something that got him out of bed at five-thirty every morning. She looked at the clock reading the digital display of six o'clock. She knew she didn't have to get up for another half hour, partially wishing sleep would come, partially wishing Sandy was there so she could feel his warm body next to hers.
After about five minutes, she knew sleep was not going to come, her mind now occupied with thoughts of Sandy. She never could understand what she did to deserve to have Sandy in her life, but she stopped questioning it. She was just grateful to the fateful gods. She wondered if most women her age felt this way about their spouse. She knew they couldn't. She knew that her marriage was rare. His constant reminders of his love was not something most men did. She often thought about the first night he told her that he loved her. It was almost twenty-four years ago and still that memory put her smile on her face. Of course, not every single moment in her marriage had that effect on her. As strong as they were, they were bound to hit some road bumps along the way.
After getting over the hump of Sandy meeting Caleb, Kirsten eventually had to come face to face with Sophie Cohen. Kirsten thought about how nervous she was, but remembered Sandy's comforting words.
"Sandy, I'm so scared she is going to hate me."
"Baby, I am going there with no expectations. Even if she despises you, I'm not going anywhere. I just hope you feel the same way."
She did, and as Sandy expected, Sophie hated her and where she came from. Something that carried through their twenty-two years of marriage.
Moving to Newport didn't help their marriage gain any strangth either. Sandy understood the need to go, but hated every minute of it. Kirsten knew this, but he complied, not putting up a fight. Seth was a different story, vocally expressing his anger. Despite his own anger about the situation, Sandy always tried to comfort her.
"He'll come around. He is just having some trouble fitting in. He'll adjust. We all will."
Although it took longer than they all expected, Seth eventually was able to find his place in Newport.
Sandy brought Ryan to their family and that miraculously fixed everything.
In the beginning of their marriage, the biggest speed bump was definitely Caleb. He never warmed up to Sandy, always thinking he was never going to be good enough. He hated that Sandy worked in the PD's office, hated that he was jewish, feared that Kirsten loved Sandy more than him. Caleb never let an opportunity to pass to let Sandy know his feelings.
"Don't speak to me that way in my own house."
"Whose house is it? Who paid for it?"
"Dad!" Kirsten always tried to put a stop to it, but never fully succeeding.
The major wedge he forced between their marriage was business related. The Heights Case that ultimately brought them closer together. Caleb making accusations and Sandy trying his best to put him in his place.
"Kiki tells me that you have been working until...two in the morning? What have you two been doing?" The accusation that made Sandy's blood boil.
"You'll poison anything. The air, the water, even your daughter's marriage as long as you profit."
"You've been living off my profits for years!"
Later that night, they fought about her disclosing close personal details about her marriage to her father. She knew how hurt he was because he rarely spoke to her with such angst in his voice.
"We're adults with demanding jobs. You don't go running off to Daddy. If that's too much to ask...go give Jimmy a call."
Ultimately Sandy and Caleb made their peace, even if it was just a few months before he died. Sandy once again bailed him out of some sort of legal troubles, putting his ass on the line more for Kirsten than for Caleb. But it was Lindsay that settled their relationship. Sandy understood how serious that situation was, and handled it and Caleb with care and Caleb finally appreciated having him for a son-in-law.
Jealousy was the only other major speed bump they hit. When they lived in Berkeley, it was not an emotion that really crossed their paths. Sandy always noticed how heads turned when Kirsten walked by, but that just made him proud.
"What are you smiling about?" She asked as she made her way over to him across the crowded room.
"Nothing. You still have no idea how sexy you are."
"You make me feel sexy. That should be all that matters." She wrapped her arms around his neck leaning up for a kiss. Sandy wasn't jealous at the admiring eyes, as long as he was the one she made her way over to.
When they first moved to Newport, Sandy started to feel that dreadful emotion that he always deemed as an unattractive quality. Kirsten fell right back into her old lifestyle, making friends with couples she went to high school with. Sandy hated the way these married men stared at his wife. They were married and disrespected their own marriage, let alone his own. They were at Taryn's house when he finally brought it up to her. He was a little bit drunk, knowing it was the only way the words would flow. He found her outside, alone, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
"I hate the way these men look at you."
She spun around in his arms, looking deep into his eyes, reading his level of seriousness. "How they look at me?" She questioned.
"I know you don't see it because, even after all these years, you still have no idea what kind of effect you have on the male species."
"Maybe I don't notice it because my attention is always focused on you."
"You always know the right thing to say!" He leaned in and kissed her, turning him on like they were still college students at Berkeley. "Let's go home." He suggested.
"You don't have to tell me twice." She grabbed her purse, and started to follow him into the house to say their goodbyes. She pulled his hand and spun him around to look back at her. "You know, I'm not the only one who gets looks thrown their way. These women look at you like a piece of meat. I know they wonder what it's like to be with a man like you."
"Yeah? And how do you know that?"
"Because you're more of a man than their husbands will ever be. They can't help but wonder."
After they said their goodbyes, it wasn't the first time they didn't make it home to make love. Sandy had to pull the car over on the side of the road, proving to her that he was all man.
This was not to say that all situations ended like this. Kirsten had a jealousy streak as well. She always wondered what Sandy's relationship was like with Rebecca. She always wondered how much he loved her. Sandy always reassured her that his feelings for Rebecca were minimal and since Rebecca was long gone her jealousy didn't lie there. Her first real taste of it was with Rachel, Sandy's co-worker.
She hated that Sandy was having drinks with her, when his office told her he was having drinks with co-workers.
"I'll see you at home, when you finish work." She knew that would sting him.
When he arrived home, he knew what he was facing. It didn't happen often, but when things didn't go the way Kirsten wanted them to go, there was always hell to pay. Sandy always blamed that part of her personality on growing up in Newport and being raised by Caleb.
"Back from work?" She wanted to give him the vibe that she was pissed.
"What are we going to do? I have to work with this woman." He approached her honestly.
"I trust you." She hated being jealous.
"Good, because you spent the weekend painting Jimmy's apartment and knew there was nothing going on. Right?" He always felt the need to throw Jimmy back in her face, hating that he was a permanent fixture in their lives.
"Right. Of course!" She knew he had every right to ask that question. His jealousy always stemmed from Jimmy.
She couldn't leave out the long chapter of Jimmy when she thought about the rocky moments of their marriage. It started when the Coopers moved next door to them.
"Kirsten don't tell me this is just a coincidence that your ex-boyfriend move within three hundred feet of you only after six months of being settled here."
"Sandy, what are you saying?"
"It's just a little too close for comfort. That's all."
Sandy got over the proximity, but the whole Newport attitude was something that always left him unsettled.
"You have no idea what it's like to provide for your family. Your wife gives away a hundered thousand dollars and you don't even notice." Jimmy always said things like that to piss Sandy off. Jimmy truly felt Sandy was not the right man for Kirsten and Sandy constantly felt the need to prove himself.
"There's more to providing for a family than money." Sandy knew Jimmy was never a man of integrity.
Jimmy admitting his feelings for Kirsten didn't help Sandy trust him either.
"I swear I was 16."
"Yeah, Sometimes I swear I was still 22. It was the best of my life." Sandy always claiming that age to be best.
"Oh yeah? Why 22?"
"That was the year I met Kirsten. Why 16?"
"That was the year I met Kirsten." Sandy couldn't believe Jimmy's audacity.
Of course the thing that put Sandy over the edge was that infamous kiss. Kirsten was not trying to be malicious or secretive in not telling Sandy. She just really felt that it meant nothing, why hurt him. Little did she know, Sandy was crushed. His pride was shot to shit, especially having to hear the heart wrenching news from Jimmy, even if it came in the form of an apology.
"At the risk of sounding too high school...He kissed you?" The hurt evident in his eyes.
"He told you?" The surprise evident in her voice.
"He didn't want there to be any secrets between us. Apparently you don't feel the same!"
"That's not true."
"All this time, all this suspicion about me and my co-worker and you're sitting on this?"
"Sandy, it meant nothing." She said it so forcefully, trying to get her point across.
"Well, it meant something to me."
She will never forget how that must have killed him. She remembered explaining to Sandy that he was just going to have to trust her. There was nothing more she could do. Not much later, she remembered what he said, knowing when he joked around, he was finally no longer going to be threatened by Jimmy.
"I think it's great your helping Jimmy after everything."
He was behind her, brushed her hair aside exposing her neck. He nuzzled his head as he whispered,
"Yeah, well I can't blame the guy for wanting to kiss my wife. It feels like we never have time anymore."
She spun around in his arms. "That's not true. We have our moments."
"I want more moments."
She knew she was lucky that ultimately Sandy was very understanding about Jimmy. She couldn't help it, but her mind immediately drifted to Rebecca. A woman that, after twenty years of marriage, so easily had her questioning the strength of her relationship.
"You and I come first." She never thought she would have to say those words, to remind him.
She remembered trying to explain to Sandy how she felt. He promised her over and over that nothing physical happened between them, but a part of her still wonders.
"I told you, nothing was keeping me from you."
"Is it over?"
"I promise you, it never started."
She remembered that it took her awhile to gain his trust again. For the first time in their entire relationship, she was almost scared to have sex with him. Sandy, of course, did this grand romantic gesture and for the time being, he seemed safe again.
"I love you and I'm so sorry I did anything to make you doubt that."
They made love after their longest break from sex ever. Physically, it was wonderful, but emotionally her mind was not in the right place. The whole time she kept thinking if this was the way he touched Rebecca, looked at Rebecca, kissed Rebecca, fucked Rebecca.
She knew Sandy was sorry and he really did spend a lot of time trying to make it up to her. Her concern always lied what exactly he was sorry for and she had trouble letting that go.
As she thought about the turbulent times in her marriage, she could never leave out the story of Carter. Never in her entire life did she turn away from Sandy and head toward another man. Carter was her Sandy. The Sandy before he got involved with Rebecca, which started the cracks in their marriage. She saw Carter as the man with no faults, the man who she could have some fun with, and worst of all the man she was really attracted to. She tried to deny her feelings, but found herself lying to Sandy about him, trying to prevent their meeting.
As much as she wanted give into her desires, she knew she could never cheat on Sandy. Even though she wanted revenge for the whole Rebecca situation, deep down she loved Sandy too much. Never in her life was she so tempted to do anything then when her and Carter were at the winery with the prospect of spending the night there. She still thanks the gods above that certain words came out of her mouth.
"I'm going to take a shower. I smell like a fermented grape."
She watched him take his shirt off, knowing she should not be here, hating the feelings coursing through her body. When she heard the water turn on, she knew she had to call Sandy. Of course, he had been so understanding, not that she disclosed that her and Carter were sharing a room. He probably would have not been so kind. His words resounded in her head. "I love you."
Carter came out in a robe a few minutes later. "You know, there are a hers robe and slippers in there if you want to take a shower." She knew he was doing everything in his power to ease the uncomfortableness.
"Carter, I..." She stopped. She wanted to tell him that she was attracted to him. She wanted to tell him she wanted him right now more than ever. She wanted to express her fears because she was a married woman. She wanted him to tell her it would be alright. Then she snapped out of her trance.
"They found us a car."
"Oh."
"I need to go home Carter." She didn't say she wanted to go home. She knew she needed to, otherwise twenty years of marriage would have been thrown right out the window. From her control, that moment was crucial to the survival of her marriage.
About a week later, even though they shared a kiss, it didn't mean anything other than goodbye. She was sad he was heading out of her life for good, but knew it had to be this way if she wanted to work things out with Sandy. She drowned her sorrows in alcohol, putting the ultimate test in Sandy's hands. He passed with flying colors. Kirsten knew then and there, no one could ever love her the way Sandy did.
"Honey, I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore." She saw the disappointment in his eyes.
While at Suriak, he told her every time they spoke, how much he loved her, missed her and believed in her. She could have never hurdled this without him and as much as she was grateful, it scared her. She knew she couldn't exist as a strong person without him. He constantly reminded her of home and how badly he wanted her there. She smiled as she thought of some of the things he said.
"Baby, I hate not sleeping next to you. I need you to get better and come home. I never thought I needed you so much until you were not there anymore. I feel like I can't function without you." It had only been four days and he felt light years away from her.
She remembered by the end of her stay, he wanted her home for all those reason, but other ones as well.
He hugged her tightly, as they sat on her bed. She understood how much he missed her emotionally, as well as physically. He cupped her face and kissed her passionately. She opened her mouth, letting him know she missed him too. He pushed her down gently, covering her body with his. As she felt his groin growing, she pulled away from the kiss.
"Sandy, stop. I don't want to do this here. Not like this. We waited so long, I don't want this room to hold any special memories for me."
"You're killing me, you know that?"
"Just so you know, it's killing me too."
"I doubt that." He climbed off her and tried to gain some composure.
"Just think how good this will be in our own bed."
Kirsten looked at the clock again, knowing Sandy would be home any soon. She looked toward the bathroom remembering the first time they had sex since Suriak.
"I'm going to take a shower." She said as she noticed his eyes roam her body as she unbuttoned her own shirt. She knew what he was thinking and played into his game. He walked over to him and placed her dirty, soiled hands on his cheeks. "You know, you don't look to clean yourself."
He played along. "Really? cause I just showered." He stared into her eyes adoringly.
She kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her. "Have I told you how glad I am your back?"
"Yeah and I like hearing it."
She remembered that was one of the greatest sexual experiences of her life. Not that every time with Sandy wasn't great, but the intimacy afterwards was unforgettable.
She lay there, out of breath as Sandy rolled off her, never breaking eye contact. "Wow." She exasperated. Sandy wasn't saying anything for a second this made her nervous. "Are you okay?"
"I'm better than okay!" He smiled.
"Was it worth the wait?" She loved their playful banter.
"Well worth it! This time is going to stand out in my mind forever."
"This was almost as good as the first time we did it in your old college house." She reminisced.
He laughed thinking about that night so many years ago. "Almost as good?" He rolled back on top of her and kissed her lips gently. "Every time with you is like the first time. You stir up feelings in me, that twenty plus years of marriage, never dulled. I love you, you know that?"
"I love you too. Are you going to stay home with me today? We can make sure it was worth the wait."
Sandy knew he had to get to work, but could never deny his wife anything. "Do you always get what you want?"
"Always!"
Kirsten knew that through all the bumps, their marriage was the smoothest thing in her life. The shared a lifetime worth of milestones, memories and moments.
She thought about their first kiss. She couldn't believe how bold she acted, but in the long run was glad that she did.
She remembered the first time they had sex. She couldn't believe that sex could feel that good.
She remembered the first time he told her he loved her. He said out of fear on that beach in Newport. She knew he would be in her life forever from that point on.
She remembered when he proposed. She still thinks of that as the happiest day of her life. She pegs it as the day her life really started.
They were walking along the beach like they did every Friday night after dinner but before they headed to The Black Oak. She would never forget the speech he gave her, and how she took his words the wrong way.
He stopped walking, but held onto her hand, enjoying their privacy in this secluded spot. She spun around to face him and he kissed her lightly.
"Kirsten, I..." He suddenly found himself extremely nervous.
Kirsten noticed that he was trying to say something and started to get nervous herself. Earlier, she recognized that he was extremely quiet, but didn't put two and two together. His weird behavior led her to believe that he was trying to break the news to her that he wanted to break up. She couldn't help but jump to conclusions. She pulled her hand out of his grasp. "Sandy, what's the matter?"
"Nothing. I just need for you to listen to me, okay? I don't want you to say anything until I'm finished."
Tears started welling up in her eyes, knowing the worst thing in her life was about to happen to her.
"Sandy, you're scaring me."
He grabbed her hand again. "What are you scared of?" He couldn't read her.
"Well you are acting sort of strange and you were really quiet at dinner and I feel like you are about to walk out of my life forever."
He smiled relieved that she was just getting the wrong idea. "I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her gently again. "But I do have something to say and I really need you to listen to me. Okay?"
"Okay." She said skeptically.
He grabbed her other hand and made sure he had her full attention. "Kirsten, I spend a lot of my day thinking about you. I think about how lucky I am that a girl like you can possibly love a guy like me. I think about how much I miss you when we are not together even if we just parted ways minutes before. I think about how much I love the fact that I can make you smile. I think about how sexy you are, how intelligent your soul is and how your determination can pretty much get you anything you want. I love you very much and never want to think of you in any other way. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. I often think about how I am living in a dream right now and one day I am going to wake up and you are going to be gone. I know I don't deserve you and I know that you are the very best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't ever want us to end."
He let go of one of her hands and got down on one knee as he reached into his pocket. "God has made me to love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us to become our own family, have children and start our own traditions. I love you more than life itself. I want you to let me love you and make you as happy as you make me. Will you marry me?"
Kirsten then thought about their wedding and how happy she was that day. She remembered sneaking out to the pool house where Sandy was sleeping the night before.
"Are you awake?" It was dark but she could see the outline of his body under the covers.
"Kirsten?" He opened his eyes and saw her in a long silk nightgown standing at the door. He reached over to turn on the lamp next to the bed when she stopped him.
"Don't! Then everyone out there can see in here." She said it seductively trying to get her point across.
"What don't you want everyone to see?" He played back.
She took off her nightgown in one fluid movement. "This!"
She made her way over to the bed and crawled under the covers next to him. "You know, you really shouldn't be in here."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Wedding or no wedding, I still would find my way into your arms every night."
He smiled. "Yes, but after tomorrow, you are going to be legally bound to be here."
She laughed at him. "Besides you didn't expect me not to sneak in here, did you? I had to do this one last time as a Nichol!"
Kirsten heard the garage door open indicating Sandy was home, probably putting his surfboard away. Her mind drifted to the night she told Sandy she was pregnant. He was so excited and eased all her fears.
She particularly remembers one of the sweetest things he ever said to her.
"Sandy, look how fat I'm getting. This is truly unbelievable."
"You have no idea how sexy you look to me."
"Sexy? Are you out of your mind?"
"Apparently!" He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You are still sexy to me. Carrying my child makes you the most beautiful woman in the world." He kissed her lips and kept hugging her. "My whole life is in my arms right now."
She heard the door to their bedroom open and saw Sandy coming in looking sexy as ever. Her eyes followed him, loving how his body still looked great after all these years. He noticed that she was awake and made his way over to her side of the bed.
"Hey, you're awake? What are you doing up?" He leaned over to give her a kiss.
"Well, when I reached out for warmth, you were gone as usual."
"Is that a dig?"
"Uh-huh."
He brushed his hand across her cheek, just staring at her, not saying a word.
"What are you thinking about right now?" She still loved that they played this game.
"I was thinking about how beautiful you are."
She leaned up to kiss him, wishing he would rid himself of that wet bathing suit. Their kisses deepened and he pulled away from her. "What are you thinking about right now?"
"I'm thinking that you need to take those off and get into the shower so you're not late to work."
"Really? You're thinking about my job?"
"No, I'm thinking about how we are going to both get into the shower and continue this."
After a very long shower, they eventually made their way to the kitchen to get some coffee and inevitably start their day. Seth and Ryan had yet to make their way into the kitchen giving Sandy and Kirsten a little bit more alone time.
"So, what got into you this morning?" He couldn't help but ask. It wasn't like Kirsten to initiate sex that early in the morning.
She smiled shyly, still getting embarrassed by her forward behavior.
"Not that I'm complaining! Believe me, you are incredible any time of the day." He made his way over to her and kissed her lips. "Believe me, if I had the time, I would take you back upstairs right now."
"Sandy! You have to stop. Do you really want to hear Seth?"
His lips moved from hers and to her neck. "I can't stop. I don't wanna stop. I..."
"Better stop it right now. Ugh, come on guys!" Kirsten tensed up at the sound of Seth's voice.
"Is it safe to come in yet?" Kirsten spun around at the sound of Ryan's voice, clearly embarrassed.
Sandy reluctantly let her go. "I have to run anyway. Want to meet me for lunch?" He said it in a suggestive tone, which the boys did not pick up on.
"Sure." Since Kirsten relinquished her position as CFO of the Newport Group her schedule was always pretty clear. She had the dating service to work on, but it didn't keep her as busy as she liked.
After the boys took off for school, she started sifting through the enormous pile of mail that had been sitting on the kitchen table. Her eyes browsed through some catalogs, she tossed the junk mail in the garbage pail and she started writing out bills.
That was when she came across it. It was a bill from the hotel that Ryan stayed in from visiting his mom. She normally would have never looked closely at it, but she saw a bunch of itemized things priced out. She knew his mom didn't stay with him, remembering he said that she was working most of the time he was there. But that still didn't explain the charge that caught her eye. There was a breakfast for two itemized there. Her mind wandered to what the hell Ryan did in his free time in Albuquerque, but quickly pushed those horrific thoughts aside. Even though Ryan wasn't her son biologically, it didn't make it any easier to think of him in that kind of situation.
Could Ryan be that sexually active that he took random girls to hotel rooms? She wasn't stupid though. She knew he must have slept with Marissa, knew about Teresa and probably Sadie as well. Did he sleep with Lindsay too? Her mind wandered further to think about how easy it would be for him to sneak girls in and out of the pool house.
These thoughts were making her sick.
She wanted to talk to him about all of this, but how could she even bring it up? She didn't want to be hypocritical. She was having sex at his age, but only with Jimmy. Only one person. She figured she could discuss this with Sandy over lunch, but Sandy was a guy and she knew he would not feel the same concern as she did.
A few hours later she went and picked up some food and headed over to Sandy's office. She knew eating was not what he had in mind during his lunch break, but she figured it would help her bring up Ryan and his extracurricular activities.
When she walked into his office, she saw a twenty-something girl leaning over his desk, pointing out something on one of the documents in front of him. She was rather scantily dressed and too young to be an associate. She must be an intern, she thought. She wasn't bothered by the flirtation. Sandy didn't even seem to notice it, which made it even funnier to her. When Sandy noticed her standing in the doorway, he immediately pushed his chair back and got up to greet her.
"Hey you." She leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "You brought lunch?" He asked surprised, knowing when they met like this, she rarely thought about food.
"Yeah." She was going to make snide comment, but didn't want to do so in front of the slutty intern. She already categorized her as a slut. She couldn't help it when a young girl looked at her husband that way.
Sandy noticed what Kirsten was staring at and knew he was in for a lecture. "Karlie, you can take a break. I'm going to have lunch with my wife for an hour or so."
"Okay Mr. Cohen. I will make sure to stop by later if you need me for anything else."
Sandy watched her shut his door, avoiding making eye contact with Kirsten, as he reached for the bags of food. He knew his initial plan of their lunch date was now completely soured. "So what did you pick up for lunch?"
"Sandy..." Kirsten was completely amused at his discomfort, but she had to let him sweat it out a little bit.
"Kirsten, before you say anything, she is just an intern who is assigned to work with all of us. She rarely is my office and I try..." As he rambled on, he unloaded the food onto the table in his office. He still didn't make eye contact with her, otherwise he would have noticed her devilish stare.
"...continues to come in here, but I usually send her out on another..." Sandy stopped speaking when he felt Kirsten's arms encircle his body from behind. When he felt her chest against his back, he turned around surprised.
She placed her arms around his neck and ran her hands through the back of his hair. "I didn't say a word." She kissed him on the lips. "I kind of like it when young, scantily dressed interns look at my husband the way she just did. What can I say, you still got it!"
"She doesn't look at me any way."
"Yes she does. It's the same way I looked at you when I was twenty years old, but the fact that you don't even see it makes you incredibly sexy."
"Oh yeah? How sexy?" He moved his hands the front of her jeans.
She took his hands in her own and pushed them away. "Not that sexy!" She kissed him again quickly to let him know she was just kidding. "I brought lunch so we could eat, plus I have something else I need to discuss with you anyway."
Kirsten described to Sandy the bill from the hotel and explained the conclusions drawn. Sandy agreed that Ryan probably had an overnight guest, but just as she suspected, he did not share her concern for this matter.
"Kirsten, he's a teenage boy. What do you expect?"
"I don't know. I expect him to have some respect for himself and his body. All I keep thinking is how often does he do this sort of thing? How many times does he have overnight guests in the pool house?"
He was trying not to laugh, knowing she was clearly upset, but he couldn't help it. "Not that I want to think about this at all, but when you were his age, are you trying to tell me that you never snuck Jimmy up to your room under the watchful eye of Caleb?"
Kirsten lowered her head, embarrassed. He used his index finger to lift his chin. "He is a teenage boy, Kirsten. To be honest with you, the scare with Teresa, at least has him seriously considering the consequences of his actions."
"You're probably right, but my actions were only with one person."
Sandy rolled his eyes.
"What?" She was curious.
"Nothing. It's just that boys are different."
"Really? Are you trying to say that when you were in high school you used to sneak different girls in under the watchful eye of Sophie Cohen?"
"We lived in a two bedroom apartment. I used to sneak around but never in my my own little apartment."
Kirsten put a hand over her face, rubbing her forehead to rid the oncoming headache. She knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with Sandy about this. "Well I think I am going to say something to Ryan about it. I can't let this go."
"You are going to humiliate him. Besides, what are you going to possibly say?"
"Let me ask you something first. Looking back now, do you think they way you were in college...ya know...with all the girls you were with...do you think that was healthy?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I never really thought about it as unhealthy. I guess before you came along, I never knew sex could be such an intimate act. I do know that it was different with you because I loved you."
Kirsten smiled at his sincerity. "Don't you want Ryan to know that there is more to what he is doing than this? Because I do."
"But honey, he is eighteen years old. I didn't come to that realization until I was 22. Give him some time to have some fun."
"Fun?" She laughed at his outlook on this. He was such a man. "Is that what you call what you used to do? Fun? What happened when I came into the picture? I sucked all the fun right out of it?"
"No." Sandy replied sheepishly. He had to get out of this one otherwise she was going to start getting serious which would eventually lead to anger. "It's just a different kind of fun. Not worse, just different."
"I just want Ryan to know that there is another kind of fun, as you put it. No one has probably ever talked to him about this."
"We never spoke to Seth about it either. You plan on talking to him too?"
"Seth and Ryan are different and you know it. Plus, Seth has been around a strong healthy marriage his whole life. He knows this is an option."
"I'm not saying not to do it. It is just going to be awkward."
"You know what would be awkward right now?" She leaned in closer to him, drawing his full attention.
"What?" He asked amused.
"All this talk about past sexual histories, I could ask that infamous question I never get answer to."
"You never will."
Later that evening, after they had dinner, Kirsten headed toward the pool house. She thought all day how to bring this up without completely embarrassing Ryan. She was just going to be open and honest with him and hoped he would, at the very least, listen. She knocked and waited for Ryan to respond.
"Come in."
"Hey Ryan."
"Kirsten..." Ryan was clearly surprised she was there. He sat up straight on his bed while Kirsten took a seat in the chair across from him. "What's up?" He knew she had to be there for a reason, especially if she took a seat.
"I, um...I actually wanted to talk to you about something."
"Okay. Is something wrong?"
"No. Well, not necessarily wrong. I just wanted..." Kirsten didn't know what to say. She was so determined to get this out in the open, but now that she was here, she couldn't formulate the words.
"Kirsten, if something is wrong, just say it. You and Sandy have always been honest with me."
"Okay. I was going through the mail today and came across the hotel bill when you went to New Mexico to visit your mom." Kirsten waited for some sort of sign that Ryan understood where she was going with this. When she couldn't get a read on him she continued. "There were a bunch of things itemized on there including a breakfast for two."
"Oh..." Ryan's cheeks were turning a light shade of pink, clearly knowing where Kirsten was heading.
"Ryan, I just..."
"I'll pay for it. I'm sorry." Ryan interrupted her.
"It's not about the money. You know that. It's just that Sandy and I worry about the choices you make sometimes and since we are a very open and honest family, we wanted to talk about it with you. It's our job to express our concern."
"Sandy knows about this too?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I had to tell him. I didn't know if I should have told him or not, but ..."
"It's okay." Ryan interrupted her again.
Kirsten wanted to explain to him that she wasn't mad, that she was just concerned. Ryan's eyes were glued to the floor, afraid to where this conversation was going. "Ryan, I know you must think I'm completely clueless and utterly shocked by this, but I'm not. Believe it or not, I was once your age."
Ryan smirked. "I know."
"The reason why I came in here tonight was not to reprimand you. I just wanted to let you know there could be more to your sexual actions than this."
"Kirsten, please. I don't need any sort of sexual lecture."
"I'm not trying to lecture you. This is not about being safe, because I would like to think that you always are. You know, Sandy should be talking to you about this. You are so much like he was back then. It's almost scary." She chuckled as she reminisced again.
"Sandy was like me? I hardly doubt that. You two met in college and have been together ever since. How is that like me?"
"I met Sandy in college, that part is true, but we weren't dating right away. He'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but..."
"Well now you have to tell me!"
"Sandy was just one of those guys in college. The type that never wanted to settle down. He was the guy that could get any girl he wanted, and believe me, he did. My friends and I knew to stay away from his crowd."
"But you didn't." Ryan simply said.
"I tried, but like every other girl on campus, I fell for his infamous Sandy Cohen charm. I hated myself for it, and I tried to play his game. I remember always leaving him in the middle of the night, just to keep him second guessing himself. It worked, but it wasn't long before the games we were playing became dangerous. If you asked me then if I thought I would be here now, I would have laughed in your face."
Ryan was listening, enjoying the fact that Sandy and Kirsten were not like any other set of parents he knew. "So if life turned out so well for Sandy, why are you in here talking to me about it."
"Because Sandy changed. I like to think he changed on his own, but I think I probably had something to do with it. I'm not saying I was an angel, but I remember thinking how reckless Sandy was and I don't want that for you. I want for you to respect yourself and your actions."
Ryan didn't know what to say so he remained quiet.
"You don't have to say anything. I just want you to know that I hope one day some girl is going to come into your life and have your head spinning. The important part is this. You are going to be worth more to her than just a good lay. Can I say that? Is that what you still even call it?"
"Please don't say it again."
"Okay, but do you get what I'm saying?" When Ryan nodded she continued again. "I don't ever want for you to sell yourself short. Sandy always thought that about himself and we might not have happened if I wasn't bold enough to point it out." Kirsten got up and started walking away. She just wanted to say one more thing. "I know it might be awhile between now and the time you find someone who challenges you, but in the meantime, just be respectful, okay?"
"Got it."
Kirsten thought that went rather well. She hoped she got her point across, but she felt like there was so much more to say. She knew that the opportunity passed and had to let things be. She walked back into the kitchen and saw Sandy dying with anticipation.
"So, dare I ask?"
"It went okay, I think. I mean you never really know with Ryan."
"So, what did you say?"
'You know, if you were so interested, you could have came in there with me."
"No way! I couldn't support your disapproval. Besides, you and I both know how hypocritical that would be of me."
"Well now Ryan understands why you didn't come in there either." Kirsten said it with a smile, knowing Sandy was going to die of embarrassment. Served him right, she thought.
"What? Kirsten, what did you tell him?"
"I had to explain to him that I understood his behavior and that you and I were once his age, that we are not completely clueless."
"Let me rephrase that. What did you say about me?"
"That you and him were very much alike. That it took you awhile to realize that you were worth so much more than you originally gave yourself credit for. That I was so grateful that you came to your senses and allowed yourself to love someone like me."
Sandy watched her and knew at moment, once again, she reassured him. He knew no one would ever love him as much as Kirsten did. He loved the security she offered and wanted to show her what he had to offer right then and there. He made his way over to her and kissed her passionately. "I love you, you know that?"
"Mmmhmm..." was her response as she leaned her whole body back into him.
Both were so caught up in the moment, they didn't hear the glass door open. They didn't break apart until they heard the familiar sound of Ryan clearing his throat to announce his presence. Kirsten, embarrassed as usual, excused herself from the kitchen. "I'm going to go to bed. See you up there?" She said it seductively, really not caring if Ryan caught on at that moment. When Sandy nodded, she turned and headed out of the kitchen. "Goodnight Ryan."
Sandy turned to look at Ryan and he could tell he wanted to talk to him about something. "Sorry. I should learn not to come in, considering I can see through the wall made of glass."
Sandy waved his hand in the air. "Nonsense Ryan. This is your kitchen too. We're just glad it wasn't Seth. Then we get about a ten to fifteen minute lecture which we really could without."
Ryan smiled, still looking like he was struggling to get something out. After a few more seconds of silence, he spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, but if this has to do with what Kirsten spoke to you about, just know I tried to have her avoid the whole thing, but she couldn't let it go. It was just like when we were in college. She never wasted a moment in time throwing stuff like that in my face. Sorry I couldn't warn you of what was to come."
"It's okay. She actually made a lot of sense." Ryan returned to being silent and Sandy wondered if he was done talking for the night.
"Was there something else you wanted to ask me?"
"Yeah, and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but..."
"Ryan, you can ask me anything." Sandy said it hoping this wasn't going to be a sex related question.
"Well, Kirsten said you were a lot like me, and I was just wondering how you knew ..." Ryan was struggling with how to word the next part.
"How I knew what?"
"How you knew Kirsten was the one that settled you down?" He stared at the ground, clearly embarrassed. "I just feel like that will never happen to me."
Sandy laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I just don't have the answer for you. I felt the exact same way. I may have used girls, but they used me just as much. When Kirsten and I first met, we didn't get together right away. I had to knock a lot of her walls down and vice versa."
"Really?"
"Really. She was just so different than anyone I have ever been with. She challenged me to be someone I was always afraid to be, and no one before her ever took the time to do that. It helped that she was incredibly sexy and that every guy on campus wanted her."
Ryan laughed. "Thanks Sandy."
"Anytime kid." Sandy started to turn away from him, but wanted to finish off by saying one more thing. "One day, some girl is going to come into your life and frustrate you to no end. She is going to challenge you and you know what happens? You are going to melt like butter in her hands. I guess that is how you know."
As he made his way up to his bedroom, he thought of all the wonderful things Kirsten was to him. Images of a young Kirsten flashed through his mind and he couldn't help, but feel like the luckiest guy alive. She was lying on their bed, waiting for him to come in their bedroom. As he entered, he had this goofy smile on his face.
"Dare I ask?" She used his words that he asked earlier.
"Well, you definitely got him thinking."
"Oh yeah? In what way?"
"He asked me how I knew that you were the one?"
"Really?" She asked amused, wishing she overheard this conversation. "What did you say?"
"I just told him that one day he is going to meet someone that is going to challenge him to the point of utter frustration. That's when he'll know."
She laughed at him, knowing how much sexual tension there used to be between them. "Is that when you knew?"
"Well I knew you were challenging from the very beginning! You were the only girl I ever met that had me second guessing my every move. It was the alleyway when I realized that you were the woman for me."
"The alleyway?" Kirsten asked, trying to pinpoint the moment he was talking about.
"You don't remember? It was the first time I saw you after that disastrous night in my bedroom."
She hated thinking about that night. She never was so humiliated in her entire life. "Unfortunately that was a night I could never forget, although I try like hell."
He made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her. He hated that she felt that way about the night they shared their first kiss. He decided to let it go and continue his story. "Anyway, I was at that bar you and I always used to go to, and I waited for you to show up so I could offer you some sort of explanation for what happened that night. I never felt the need to explain my actions to anyone before that. It took me all night to come up to you and when I finally did, you walked out of the bar and I followed you outside."
"Oh I do vaguely remember this. I remember not wanting anyone to overhear what was to be said because I was so embarrassed."
"Yeah, well when we got outside, you were so pissed at me." He chuckled, thinking about how funny it was now, but not back then. "I pulled you into an alleyway because I didn't want to make a scene out on the street. I remember trying to explain to you what was going on through my head and I couldn't get the words out. You were shooting daggers at me with your eyes and I just acted on my impulses and kissed you. And for a split second, you kissed me back. You were mad at me for kissing you, but I felt something then that I never felt before. I realized then that you were the one."
"Wow. I can't believe you remember that night so vividly." She sat up and brought her face close to his and kissed him. She moved her hands to the front of his chest as he started to push her back into the pillows climbing on top of her.
He suddenly stopped kissing her as a thought came into his head. "When did you realize I was the one?"
She thought about it for a second before responding, scaring him a bit. "Please tell me you remember something from our years at Berkeley!"
"Give me some credit Sandy. I guess I think I knew right away that I wanted something between us to happen. I hate to admit it, but you got me so wound up that first night together, I really wanted to finish what we started."
"Really?" Sandy was surprised. "Well, I promise, tonight we will definitely finish what we started."
She smiled knowing how true that statement was. "But I think it was when I was prepping you to come to Newport. I remember asking that infamous question you really never answered for me."
"Wait, the fact that I never gave you an answer made you fall in love with me?" He thought after all these years he would be able to understand her, but no such luck.
"No. I just remember coming out and asking you how many women you were with and you made me guess. Apparently I guessed too high and you laughed at me. Then you told me that I shouldn't worry about the number, I should be concentrating on the fact that I was the one where the number stopped. That was when I realized I loved you."
He started kissing her again, loving how they shared such a pure honesty between them. He pulled off her shirt, loving that she still wore the sexiest undergarments. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off over his shoulders. She loved that he still had a rock hard body, probably due to that damn surfing habit she hated so much. As he removed her pants, he loved that every piece of lingerie she wore matched. It was what made her sexy. She could feel the bulge in his pants and as she removed them, she remembered being in awe of how big he was, loving that she was the only one in this world allowed to enjoy it.
He slowed down for a moment. "What are you thinking about right now?"
"How lucky I am to be the only one to enjoy him!" She grabbed his dick through his boxers, fully explaining what she meant. She loved that she could make him smile.
She removed his boxers as kissed her neck, knowing exactly what spots to hit. Even though they probably had sex a million times, she still had the ability to excite him with her moans. He removed her underwear as his fingers found there way inside her. She moaned pulling his cock toward her entrance.
He pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, kissed her gently and spoke softly. "Sweet sixteen." He kissed her ever so softly, as it was the first time he was anticipating fucking her.
As he held him himself still, she asked, "What?"
"You were my sweet sixteen. That is how I always think about my number."
She couldn't believe he finally told her. Not that it really mattered now. She loved and respected their marriage above all else, but she appreciated how he thought of it.
They made love that night, both hoping that Ryan would be half as lucky as the two of them were.
--
--
Please review, even though I don't have another chapter to use as bribery!