Chapter 52

"Hello again, Derrick." She greeted, shaking his hand with her freshly washed one and took the beautiful flowers from him along with the picture frame. "Thank you, these are lovely." The scent permeated the air as she set them on the kitchen table in the center since they were already in a glass vase. "Mark will be out shortly. Do you want something to drink?"

"Nope." He flashed her his water bottle, grinning broadly. "I knocked a couple of times, but I guess you didn't hear." Derrick he knew how much Mark despised doorbells, so he hadn't rung it. He preferred the big man to not try choking him out. "Thank you though."

"Where's the clock?" Mark walked out, back in shorts and hadn't bothered with a t-shirt.

"I knew you'd be expecting it." Derrick snorted, rolling his eyes. "Hey, before you go, I want a rematch since we have a court here."

"Yeah, I know, I helped design this place." He walked up behind Alice, eyeing the flowers. "Told you." Mark whispered, dropping a kiss on her neck before glancing at Derrick. "We haven't played ball in… months."

"I know, and you just barely beat me last time."

That was true, and Mark had to cheat to do it. In his defense, Derrick had hip-checked him, and it had hurt, the spry little bastard.

"A rematch? A court? You mean like basketball?"

Derrick arched a slow brow at her and then looked at Mark, blinking. "Yeah…Mark is one of the best basketball players Houston has ever seen. You didn't tell her about your college and near pro-ball days, man?" Derrick had gone to school with him and they'd been on the same team.

"No…" She dragged that word out, intrigued and looked up at Mark curiously. "You played basketball in college?" They really did come from two completely different backgrounds. College wasn't even an afterthought due to how she was brought up and raised.

"Hell yeah, he did!" Derrick crowed, listing off some of Mark's achievements while in college, which mostly revolved around basketball. "This mother fucker was supposed to go overseas with us. He was 12 hours away from getting his degree – 12 HOURS – and he gave it all up for professional wrestling. I still can't believe you did that, Calaway…" The team had been steamed when he didn't show up for the bus to take them to the airport to go overseas, but Derrick had forgiven him once they reconnected several years ago.

Now Alice was in shock. "Oh wow…" She didn't know what else to say.

As if Alice needed another reminder of how two completely different people they were at times and their backgrounds. Mark cleared his throat, giving Derrick a look that promised retaliation. "I was good, but basketball is a lot harder on a man my size than wrestling." All that running from one end of the court to the other, the jumping…he'd be retired by now. "I'll do a rematch." He had every intention of knocking Derrick down to the pavement a time or two, send him home with a skinned backside. "You wanna be my cheerleader, Red?"

Derrick had not missed that look, gathering Mark hadn't told her for whatever reasons and grinned.

Challenge accepted.

"Not like I'm not already your cheerleader, but sure. Let me go grab something from the bedroom really fast."

Kissing his cheek, Alice zoomed off to the bedroom to put a bra on, refusing to go out in public without one. Although hers were perky and didn't sag, she did not feel comfortable without one out in the open. Slipping her white tennis shoes on and pulling her red hair up in a messy bun on top of her head, Alice came out 5 minutes later just as Mark finished tying his gym shoes.

"Ready when you are, Deadman."

"I still can't believe you didn't know about his college days. What else has the big man kept from you?" Derrick mused out loud, shaking his head and ignored Mark's dark look shot at him. "Hey, the lady deserves to know what a damn tyrant you are. Give her a chance to run away from your ass."

"Not going to happen."

Alice grabbed Mark's hand on their way out the door, waiting for him to lock it behind him and followed Derrick out to the where the recreational part of the complex was located. As Derrick kept talking about their college days, and many other topics, Mark honestly didn't know if his friend was trying to help or hurt this relationship. He hadn't withheld information out of spite or fear of running her off, but Alice hadn't had the best childhood or life as an actual adult. Mark didn't need her freaking out any more than she already had about their different backgrounds. He had pulled his hair back into a low hanging tail at the nape of his neck and wrapped a bandana around his head to keep sweat from his eyes, still not wearing a shirt. Eyeing the court, Mark grinned when they reached it, having every intention of making his friend eat his own tongue. He had also grabbed some bottled water, figuring with as hot as it was, he and Alice were going to need it. Not to mention, they had already used up a lot of their own… liquids.

"You want to ref us?" Derrick offered with an easy-going grin, picking up a discarded basketball and giving it a few dribbles.

"Okay, what are the rules?"

"When it comes to Mark and I playing, there are no rules." Derrick stated, continuing to warmup with dribbling the ball and smirked at the redhead. "It won't be that hard. Anything goes…except bloodshed."

Alice giggled nervously when Mark said 'no promises' and shook her head, amusement shining in her greys. It did bother her a little that he was a college boy turned professional wrestler, but that wasn't a flaw either. She was in love with a smart man, for the most part, and he loved her back, wanted to live with her and share their lives together. Alice counted herself blessed, it was the only word to describe what had happened in her life. Luck had finally turned in her favor along with fate, even with the whole Dallas stalking situation. She would not let their pasts and upbringing dictate their relationship, though Alice would be lying if she said she didn't want to know more about Mark. If it was up to her, she wanted to know everything about him.

"Oh, and any blatant cheating, that has to be called."

"Pissed about last time?"

"Whatever happened to good sportsmanship? Or did that go out the door when you decided to play a fake sport?"

Mark wasn't bothered in the slightest, this was just how it went when they got together and competed, trash talking, taunting. He already knew Derrick didn't mean anything by it. "All right, enough chit chat, I'll show you fake."

"Fake athlete…"

Mark's eyes narrowed, though he was grinning. "Yeah darlin', if you catch him cheatin', call it."

"I'm not the one who cheated to a win!"

Mark started laughing and the game commenced.

Watching Mark move on the court, it became crystal clear to Alice how good he was, and she idly wondered what drew him to professional wrestling. If he was this good at basketball and only 12 hours away from a full ride basketball scholarship, what made him decide to give all of that up for professional wrestling? Was it the physicality? WWF wasn't fake by any means, though fans were made to believe it was scripted, when in reality, it was all real. The moves and everything were real, they didn't script a single thing and real-life feuds were actual feuds. Derrick didn't need to know that though and could live in his way of thinking. She wouldn't pop that bubble and open his eyes to the truth.

"You're off the court. Ball goes to Mark." She ordered, taking the ball from the sidelines and tossed it to her man, winking.

"Hey now, a ref can't be biased, baby."

That earned Derrick a forearm to his chest followed by a SWISH from Mark, the ball hitting nothing but net.

Smirking, Mark met Derrick on the court again, weaving, ducking and then cursed when he wound up eating pavement. He rolled over, bringing a hand up to stare at what used to be his palm and then pushed himself off, before he baked. That black top was HOT.

"You're an ass." He informed his friend in a growl.

"And I am also a lot smaller than you, I think you crushed my chest." They were not as young as they used to be, but both in great shape for their respective sizes. "Your tit is bleeding."

"Pec." And it was, scraped, nothing major and Mark rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna feed you that ball, Derry."

"Don't call me that!"

Alice cringed when Mark hit the pavement and wanted to go to him to make sure he was alright, but the acid in his eyes stopped her. The words caught in her throat. "Wouldn't that be considered a foul?" She asked, blushing when both of them looked at her and held her hands up. "Hey, I'm just trying to be as fair as possible." Not to mention, she didn't know jack about basketball or the rules. Personally, she thought the NBA was overrated and full of jackasses, but kept that opinion to herself. College basketball, on the other hand, wasn't all that bad. "I think…Mark should get a free-throw shot since you forced him to hit the pavement."

"What?!"

"Come on now, Derry, gotta play fair."

He was liking this cheeky wench even more, but she was obviously favoring Mark and, while he found it amusing, he could see the big man wasn't overly enjoying the idea of being publicly favored this way. "Want that free shot?"

"No." Mark grunted, shaking his head. It happened, a lot, biting pavement. And since Derrick had done it while in motion, it was a legal move.

"Didn't think so." Play resumed and next it was him being body checked. "My ass!" Where the hell was his free shot?

Feeling marginally better, Mark helped his friend up. "Need some cream for that burn, boy?"

"I got your cream right here." The following gesture left no doubt where said cream was coming from. "Oh… my ass…"

"Take a minute, let's get a drink." And let Derry have a moment to recover HIS pride.

It wasn't that she was favoring Mark. Alice had NO idea what she was doing or how to referee a basketball contest. She wasn't a fan of the sport, never watched it on television and only knew about the March Madness college games due to her foster Dad being obsessed with it every year. Sitting down in the grass, where her backside wouldn't be burned by the pavement, Alice downed half her bottled water and smiled over at Mark and Derrick still ribbing each other.

The score was tied, and the next shot would be victory. It still amazed her how athletic Mark truly was, feeling her body flush with pure warmth at the sight of his body coated in sweat while he moved fluidly on the court. Once the break was over, and Derrick had recovered from the fall, it was back to business with them nearly fighting each other for the ball. She just hoped Mark was careful since he had a very busy weekend ahead of him, especially when it came to beating the hell out of Dallas.

Derrick won without cheating. He watched that shot, making it back from the 3-point line and Mark was turning to watch too, both of them holding their breath. When it swished through the net, he jumped up into the air before starting to dance. Mark shook his head, high-fiving his buddy before walking over to drop on the grass beside Alice, stretching his long legs out before him.

"He was always better. I was just taller and wider." He admitted, finishing what was left of his water and winced. Mark was starting to feel those scrapes now and really hoped Derrick had a rubbed raw backside.

"In your defense, you had an…extensive workout beforehand."

Alice grinned evilly, recalling the several hours of lovemaking and straight out fucking they'd done prior to Derrick coming over unannounced. She looked over at Derrick, who was rubbing his backside and laughed when the man groaned out about having a scraped ass cheek. Then he looked at the other one and groaned even louder.

"You won and look what happened to my man's pectoral and his knees." Alice had a feeling his backside had taken a beating too, no pun intended. "Come on, I'll get some ice for both of you." Standing, she extended her hand to Mark and smiled when he took it, pulling him up using her arm strength. "And if you don't mind, I'm gonna try to find a gym around here…"

"There's one on the property, on the other side of the court." Derrick pointed with a pained smile. "Help yourself, it's only available to the occupants that live here."

Were they sure this was supposed to be middle class housing? "Okay, thanks."

Low income housing usually just provided a cheap playground and a place to do laundry. Rich people had pools, nice playgrounds, several recreational room facilities and etcetera. The basketball court was part of the only playground in the complex, right smack in the center. They provided appliances in the units and the gym had been something for Derrick and other meatheads, housewives looking for a quick workout, whatever. Mark sincerely doubted it would have gone in, if not for the fact Derrick lived on the property. The 'eternal' bachelor, supposedly.

"It's not like… a normal gym, darlin'. Some weight shit, treadmills, bike machines and… punching bags."

"Hey, and we put in a TV and DVD player with some yoga shit."

That was new.

"That's plenty for me. Catch you boys in a while."

The clothes she had on were perfect for a workout and watching Mark run back and forth on the basketball court heightened her adrenaline. A good, solid workout for a couple hours, even if she spent most of it kicking and hitting the bag, would make her feel better. They hadn't exercised at all yesterday and Alice didn't want to start slacking, even if it was their days off.

"So, you didn't give her enough of a workout before I got here?" Derrick wasn't stupid, noticing the disheveled looks from both of them when he first arrived. He laughed when Mark punched him in the arm. "Just joking man, don't take shit so serious. Now let's go get some ice." They really needed it.

They both limped back to the office, where Derrick kept an ice machine because the man had to have ice water at almost all times. He accepted the bag full of ice he was offered and dropped down on the couch, taking a look around. Desk, computer, desk chair, two chairs before it, the couch and kiddie toys for clients with children.

"Man… we're getting old."

"Don't I know it…" Derrick groaned as he very gingerly sat down. "So, where'd you meet her?"

"Work, duh."

Where else was he going to meet a woman? Not like he had enough time to trawl bars for a potential long-lasting relationship. Mark wasn't about to elaborate on Alice's past, however; he didn't care who he was conversing with. That was her business.