He pulled me into the game room. "Hey, Jon, Bitsy, fresh chocolate chip cookies are in the kitchen. Maggie wants to meet you, so run in there and get a few. And bring some back for us if you don't mind."

Bitsy laid her pool stick on the table. The stick was twice as long as she was tall. Jon went to pick it up, but Reed grabbed it. "I've got the cues, just follow the cookie smell and you'll find the kitchen."

They left the room and Reed nodded to the foosball table in the corner. "Play me so I can kick your ass again."

I rested my hip against the pool table. "Totally unfair advantage. You have foosball at your house and probably practice all the time. I hope it makes you feel good to beat little old me."

Reed grabbed me after he pushed the sticks, err, cues across the table and lifted me before leaning me back so I rested against the top. My feet didn't touch the floor, so I circled my legs around his hips. His hands landed on either side of my head.

"Seeing you in my kitchen looking at that chair about killed me. I've had so many fantasies about you tied to it." His eyes raked over my chest. "Having you on my pool table is another fantasy. I don't think I can wait until tonight."

I would have laughed and made a joke, but he kissed me. I really liked the pool table and could so include this in my own fantasies. The kiss went on and on until I heard Jon.

"Don't run, Bitsy, you'll spill your milk. This isn't our house and we can't afford to clean the carpet."

Reed did a pushup, flexing all those muscles that I wanted to drool over as he separated his mouth from mine. I loosened my legs so they slipped from around him as he swung me up. He grabbed the cues, walking them to the rack and situating them. I noticed his erection and from the look on his face, he knew I could see it. He put his finger to his lips, walking to the far side of the foosball table where it hid the lower part of his body.

"Come on and help me out of this predicament. If you score, I'll deflate instantly."

I raced over right as Jon and Bitsy rounded the corner. Jon had a large plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Bitsy had just her glass and it was sloshing as she walked. Her mouth had a milkstache, so I didn't think too much spilled.

"Sit them on the side table and come watch me kick your sister's butt. Can you bring me a cookie, Bitsy?"

She obliged. "Maggie said I can come over and play with her grandkids tomorrow if you say it's okay, Jaycee. She says they have a playhouse and I can bring my doll."

I looked at Reed, who scored as soon as Bitsy started talking.

He continued playing while talking. "She'll have a blast. I used to play with her sons when I was a kid. They're good people. We can drop her off tomorrow so you can check out the place and see that she'll have a great time."

How did he always know what bothered me? We hadn't lived in a normal neighborhood; ours only had drug addicts and people just getting out of prison mostly for drugs. I would never let her play in our neighborhood. The few friends she had came to our small trailer and played on the side where the door faced. They never stayed long and I knew they were bored, but I couldn't let Bitsy out of my sight. Jon followed my same rules when he watched her; it was just how we lived.

I needed to let go just a little. "That sounds like fun, sugar. You can visit for an hour."

Bitsy was happy with that. An hour was a long time to her.

"Are you paying attention, Jaycee? I don't want you whining when you lose again."

"I don't whine, moron. While you're in spring training, I'll be practicing so I can kick your ass."

"I take that as a challenge, and you're on."

I was no competition; he played Jon next and Jon took one of three games. I high fived my brother after his win, but refused to acknowledge Reed's. He curled his lip out and pouted, looking totally ridiculous, but didn't seem to care.

Bitsy gave Reed a high five with her small hand. He picked her up and swung her around in circles while her squeals blasted through the room.

"What's going on in here?" A man's booming voice stopped our laughter.

"Hey, Mick. Whoa." Reed put Bitsy down and placed his hand on the pool table as he wobbled.

I watched Reed gain his balance before I looked closely at the stranger. Damn, did Reed surround himself with hot guys or what? Mick was at least six inches taller than Reed with lean muscle. He had a gorgeous face. His wide nose took away from the finer lines and made him look manly instead of feminine. His red hair was the length of Reed's. Sea green eyes completed the picture. I happened to catch a glimpse of Jon. He stood frozen with a look of shock on his face. I guessed this was another star ball player on Reed's team.

"Mick meet Jaycee."

Mick shook my hand.

"This is her sister, Bitsy, and brother, Jon."

Bitsy grabbed Reed's leg and wrapped herself around it. I was guessing Mick's height scared her. It didn't throw Mick off his stride at all.

"You always get all the pretty girls, Reed." He turned to Jon.

"It's nice to meetcha, man." He shook my brother's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir."

"None of that sir business. That was Sir Charles' nickname and he was my idol when I was your age."

"Charles Barkley?"

"Yep, that's the one. He was one badass player. Oops, sorry." He looked at Bitsy and it made me laugh.

Jon seemed to get his voice back. "Don't worry about it. Jaycee's language could use some improvement."

"Jon." I grumbled in embarrassment.

"I've heard it too," Reed interjected and I rolled my eyes.

"Who's up for a game of horse? I came early so we could shoot a few before everyone else shows up."

I shook my head, not understanding until Mick grabbed a basketball off a rack on one wall that held assorted equipment. I followed them out back to a basketball court. There was a tennis court next to it with the swimming pool about a hundred feet to the right. A putting green, a cage of some sort, I figured for hitting baseballs, and other equipment made the yard an athletic wonderland.

The pool was incredible, with a twisting slide down one side and a diving board on the other. The barbeque area had stone tables with bench seats, a giant fire pit on the side and a grill setup that could just as easily be in a kitchen. This was the bachelor sports pad from heaven. What the hell did Reed want with me and my sister and brother? He should be entertaining rich divas who played in his rich world. As I looked around, it made me sad and uncomfortable.

"You playing, Jaycee?" my brother asked.

"No, I'll sit and watch."

Reed grabbed my hand, giving it a small tug. "That's not gonna happen. Everyone plays."

"I don't know how to play. I'll watch the rest of you." I shook my fingers loose from his and sat down on a bench next to the court.

Reed hunkered down in front of me, giving that little boy smile once more. "Look, Mick always kicks ass. He plays professional basketball and horse is the only basketball game I'll play with him. Every so often, I win, but it's few and far between. Have some fun with us, please?"

God, he was so hard to resist. I stood up and let him pull me into the game. Mick was a riot and had a way of taunting Reed that showed what great friends they were. Mick picked up Bitsy on her first turn so she could reach the net, and within minutes, she was laughing and not at all intimidated by his size. Bitsy won horse and she was high fived from every direction.

Just as we finished, the back patio door opened and another of Reed's friends walked out. This one held the hand of a stunning woman, who looked like she could easily be on Reed's arm. She was exotically beautiful but in a very short time, I could tell she only had eyes for Sal and wasn't interested in Reed. Sal, I learned, was one of Reed's teammates and played first base. His girlfriend, Chi Chi, who spoke openly about herself, was half-Mexican and half German, though her dad was American. His parents came to the United States a year before he was born. Her German heritage accounted for her blue eyes that were even nicer than Reed's, and that was saying a lot. Maybe it was her darker skin that made them stand out more.

I liked Chi Chi, though I remained intimidated by her looks. Nope again; I wasn't bad in the looks department, but Chi Chi was in an entirely different league. She also spoke and listened to Jon like she cared what he had to say. He hung on her every word, kept his eyes on her face, and made me proud. I had nice tits, as Reed was fond of saying, but Chi Chi's stole the show. I wondered if they were real and hoped, quite shamefully, that they weren't. She wore a silk blouse, indecently unbuttoned, but who would button those in? Her waist was pencil thin and her ass spiraled out giving her the perfect bubble butt. Her short shorts showed off her long legs. She had on a simple pair of high bejeweled flip-flops.

Jealous anyone?

It sucked even worse because she was incredibly sweet. Reed passed out beer and tried to hand me one, but I wasn't drinking in front of Bitsy. I saw Jon shake his head no when Sal tried to pass him one. I was only a few months shy of drinking age and never had the opportunity to have more than a small sip. I wasn't sure about Jon, but I didn't see him having a chance to drink either. Our lives didn't give us the opportunity to do something so criminally normal as underage drinking.

Reed's friends didn't seem fazed by Jon's Goth looks, but I think it was because Jon could talk their talk. Regardless of his black fingernail polish, black ensemble clothes, and military boots, he loved sports.

It was me who didn't fit in this world.