Brooke sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Clad in sweats and a bandana, it was her fourth day in a row at the new house getting everything settled in. It had been decorated just to her satisfaction and she had spent nearly quarter of a million dollars on art and new furniture alone. Normally spending obscene amounts of money and quenching her insatiable thirst for only the finest and most expensive things, put Brooke in a great mood. Not this time. Her mood was far from great and it had to do with the huge blow up she and Lucas had had just a week before in front of the People magazine reporter. They hadn't made up in the days that followed and like always, Luke was off across the country to play in an away game. Once again Brooke found herself all alone and keeping busy had always been the number one anecdote for loneliness. Throwing herself into the new house had been a saving grace.

"What the hell is this?" Brooke asked as she reached into an idle box, pulling out what appeared to be an expensive tea set.

"It's the porcelain you ordered, Mrs. Scott. Imported straight from St. Petersburg", answered Alex, hired help who regularly assisted Lucas and Brooke with whatever projects they had going on.

"Porcelain? I didn't order any porcelain", Brooke thought aloud, wrinkling her nose.

"It says so right here ma'am on the notes you gave me", Alex said. "Right there where you wrote Porcelain-Russia."

Brooke scanned the paper and burst into laughter.

"That doesn't say Porcelain-Russia, it says Portrait-Brucas", Brooke smiled. "I didn't want a tea set from St. Petersburg, I just wanted the oil painting of my husband and myself to be placed in the living room above the fireplace. Brucas is the term I use when I'm too lazy to write out both mine and Luke's name."

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Scott."

Brooke shrugged. She was more than aware of the fact that she had some of the worst handwriting known to man. It was an honest mistake, more her fault than Alex's.

"No worries. Just make sure you get that painting delivered this week. It's very special to me and Mr. Scott….a friend of ours, Peyton Sawyer, painted that for us."

"Yes ma'am. And what would you like to do with the tea set, Mrs. Scott?"

"How much was it?"

"1,406.00."

"Just throw it in the china closet with the rest of the crap", she shrugged.

"Oh and Mrs. Scott, before I forget. This delivery came for you earlier."

"Thanks, Alex", Brooke said as she took the long, rectangular box from him.

Upon opening it she saw two dozen red roses and a card scrawled in the familiar handwriting of her husband.

Dear Wife aka Brooke aka Cheery aka Love of my Life,

I apologize for hurting you, for not being understanding and for completely flying off the handle. I said some things I shouldn't have…and that I didn't mean. I love you more than anything and I hate it when we fight. Please forgive me. I'm sorry.

Love, Husband aka Lucas aka Broody aka Jackass

Brooke sighed. Of course she hated fighting with Luke as well but the recent argument had been different. Somehow she felt things could never be the same between them following their little exchange. Sometimes when people get mad, they say bad things that they don't really mean. Lucas and Brooke had been together for nearly ten years, married three and they had never before shown dark, ugly sides that the other person had never seen before.

Taking a deep breath, she speed dialed her husband's cell phone.

"Hey Broody, it's me."

"You got the flowers?" he asked hopefully.

"Something like that."

"That mean you forgive me?"

"Maybe."

"Brooke, these past few months have been rough on us and I know with me being gone all the time doesn't help things. You don't know how much I'm looking forward to the off season when I can score a little bit of a break so you and I can take a vacation and get away from everything and everybody. Babe, I'm really trying to work on setting something up like that but with the Knicks on an undefeated season and all the press hype with Nathan and me… it's damn near impossible to get a breather. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm neglecting you because I'm not. I need you, Brooke. We need each other. We're going out to Texas next week to play against San Antonio and babe, it would mean the world to me if you'd travel with us."

"I can't Luke. I have a conference in San Juan next week, on the 17th. There is a lot of stuff going on now at work and…"

"My game is the 18th. You could fly up after your conference. I know that's cutting it close but at least we can spend time together. "

"Lucas, I don't know. We're gonna be pretty busy…"

"Baby, please", he pleaded, sighing softly into the phone. "Please."

She could imagine the look on his face and how could she say no?

Unfortunately while in San Juan, Brooke was feeling a bit under the weather. She somehow made it through two busy days worth of meetings and presentations. When she finally arrived in San Antonio, she was much better and attended the show from a VIP floor seat reserved for players' families. The Knicks and Spurs made their way onto the floor for warms ups to the delight of an excited crowd. When starting lines ups were announced, Lucas acknowledged the fans with a wave and as he found his wife in the stands, he winked and mouthed the words "I love you". Brooke smiled and tried to settle back and enjoy the action. She proudly watched as he ran the ball scoring a total of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Hitting that last three pointed from mid court to tie the game, Lucas had taken another questionable fall. Brooke closed her eyes as it took a little longer than usual for him to gain a comfortable standing position. Eventually he got up and even the mostly pro-Spur audience applauded with appreciation for his effort. The game was won but at what price? In all likeliness, Luke would barely be able to crawl out of bed the next morning. What would happen if he really landed wrong and did worse damage to his shoulder? Or worse, what if something went wrong with his neck or back? To Brooke it was just a game and times like these proved that it wasn't even worth it.

After the show, Brooke headed to the locker area where Lucas and the others were showering and getting changed. The plan was for some of the team to get together for a late dinner on the River Walk. Brooke was pleasantly surprised to see several other Knick wives around. Most of the women were around her age and pretty nice. They shared a common bond related on a lot of levels when it came to the trials and tribulations of marrying into such a crazy and demanding form of sports entertainment.

Grilled steaks and beer and a lot of friendly and animated conversation. It was a great time and Brooke was exhausted by the time they got back to the hotel room. It was a clear and pretty night and the view of the city was one of the best. Brooke changed into a silky light blue nightgown. The spaghetti straps easily slid over her smooth, creamy shoulders as she brushed her hair and prepared for bed. As soon as she climbed in the sheets, Lucas was running his hands all over her body hungrily kissing any exposed flesh. As of late, Brooke's sex drive was basically non existent. She had no urge to make love at all and their sex life was practically dead.

Brooke could feel her husband's hard length against the satin material of her sleep wear. His tongue traced wet, imaginary circles on her neck that went further down as his hands raised up the gown and tugged at her panties. Physically, the petting did feel good but emotionally and mentally, it just wasn't there. She wanted him to stop and after ten minutes or so of unreciprocated foreplay, Luke reluctantly pulled away.

"Brooke, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

He stroked the flatness of her stomach.

"I miss you and I love you, babe. I just want to show you how much. I want to make love to you."

"I love you, too, I guess I'm just not in the mood."

"Is it me? Are you still mad at me?"

"No...I don't know, look I just don't want to have sex with you right now. Tomorrow, okay? I promise."

"It's not a big deal, alright? You don't have to promise or schedule me sex, Brooke."

"Now you're all pissed off…"

"No I'm not pissed off but it is a little frustrating lying next to my incredibly gorgeous wife with a massive hard on and all I want to do is have some fun and get it on and once again she isn't in the mood."

"Luke, it's not that. It's just…"

"Just forget about it", he sighed, rolling over.

Brooke reluctantly began to rub his back. She planted kisses just below his shoulders until he was interested enough to roll over. They kissed for a while and then he was inside of her. Brooke strained as Lucas held her tight and buried his face in her neck, the sweat from his hair running down her body. After a few minutes, he tensed and released inside her with a grunt. Normally that was the greatest time for Brooke, the first moments after they had made love and pleased one another to no end. Then she would fall asleep in his arms, lulled to dream land by the rhythmic beat of his heart. This night she didn't feel love or happiness or ecstasy. All she did feel was the great relief when he was finished and rolled off of her.