Game Day
by Cowgirl

chapter 5 - Behind the Eight Ball

Alexis sat on the couch in her living room sipping coffee that Kristina had mercifully made before she left to go running with Ned. It was eleven thirty in the morning and she had just gotten up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and her thoughts started to wander to her neighbor across the hall. It was Sunday. For the last few weeks, five of them, to be precise, she and Sonny had engaged in a new ritual, and she didn't know which fact scared her more, the fact that she now looked forward to Sundays, or the fact that Sonny hadn't called her to "make plans" for that day. She shook her head and stood up. She was being ridiculous. They had no standing commitments to get together every week. Maybe Sonny was bored with their encounters, maybe he thought better of sleeping with his attorney. She closed her mind to thoughts of Sonny and picked up the newspaper that lay on the coffee table in front of her. She had a life…she had things to do, and she was going to go about doing them…not sit and worry about if Sonny was going to call her for their weekly tet a tet.

She was halfway through the newspaper when the oh so familiar knock sounded on her door. She stood up and smoothed out her silk robe, her heart rapidly picking up speed, and went to the door.

Opening it she found Sonny standing there in a business suit, his overcoat hanging from his arm.

"You look very formal for a Sunday afternoon," she mused nervously.

He gave her the once over and moved into her apartment. "I have a meeting at Jakes."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "At Jakes?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, it's the only place that's not open on Sundays. I talked that grease ball Coleman into letting me use it for a few hours."

Alexis narrowed her eyes. "Dare I ask who you are meeting?"

"Yeah, two businessmen from the Dominican Republic. They're in New York on business and this is the only day we can meet. They want to talk about buying one of my casinos."

"So this is legit?"

Sonny turned to her and shook his head. "Yes, its legit. That's why I'm here. I would like you to come with me if you can."

Alexis glanced down at her wardrobe. "Sonny, I'm not even showered yet."

Sonny shook his head. "I can see that…I mean I know its last minute, but they just called a half an hour ago." He shrugged again. "If you can't go…"

"What time are you meeting them?"

"Twenty minutes."

Alexis rolled her eyes. Why did she feel compelled to do whatever this man asked of her? "You call and tell them you're running late. I'll go get ready."

A smile rolled across Sonny's face. "Thanks. I'll wait down here."

An hour later Sonny and Alexis sitting around a table at Jakes, empty except for Sonny, Alexis and the two business men.

"Well gentleman…and lady." The one businessman cooed. "I will take these contracts to my lawyer in the Republic and have them looked over…but I think that we may just have a deal Mr. Corinthos."

Sonny stood, as did the rest of the group, and extended his hand. "That's good. I'm sure you'll find my attorney…" he nodded to Alexis. "Ms. Davis, has outlined everything impeccably."

The businessman slid his eyes to Alexis and gave an oily smile. "Yes, I'm sure everything about Ms. Davis is impeccable."

Sonny fought the urge to hit the bastard for blatantly coming on to Alexis. "Well, then we're done here? You gentlemen must have a plane to catch."

"Indeed we do Mr. Corinthos." He turned to Alexis and took her hand, placing a kiss on the top of it. "It was a pleasure. If you ever make it down to the Dominican Republic, I would be honored to be your host."

Alexis smiled politely. "I really don't travel much, but if I ever do, I'll look you up."

After a few protocol type parting words, they two men were out the door and on their way. Alexis began to gather papers and shove them in her brief case when she noticed Sonny walk behind the bar. "What are you doing?"

Sonny ducked down for a second and retrieved two Heinekens from the cooler. He held them up. "Thought we'd celebrate."

Alexis cocked her head. "You can't just help yourself to Coleman's beer."

Sonny shook his head and reached in his pocket. He pulled out a twenty and laid it on the bar. "Happy?"

"I'd be happy if we just got the heck out of this dump."

Sonny smiled and brought the beer over to one of the two pool tables. He set them down and picked up the white cue ball, he turned it over in his hand a couple of times and then rolled it across the table. He cocked his head and gave Alexis a mischievous smile. "Ever play eight ball?"

Alexis' heart did a thump. Surely he wasn't thinking about…"No," she smiled. "Never have."

Sonny grabbed a cue off of the rack and waved Alexis over. "Come on…you'll like it." He took off his suit coat and rolled his sleeves up. "You can break," he said as he racked the balls.

"Break?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, it's the opening shot."

"I don't even know how to hold the stick," Alexis furrowed her brow.

Sonny moved up behind her, pinning her hips to the table with his own. "It's not a stick, it's a cue and I'll help you," he said in her ear. "Here, like this," he continued as he instructed her how to hold the cue correctly.

He helped her take the first shot. She watched as the balls scattered to different spots on the table. "Nothing went in the little holes."

Sonny laughed. "Pockets, they're called pockets…and that means that the table is still open. It's my turn and I get to aim for whatever ball I want," he said as he maneuvered himself away from the heat of her body and around the table. "One thing, you don't want to aim for that black ball over there. That's the eight ball. That's the last one that both of us aim for."

"Okay…how do I know which balls to aim for?"

Sonny couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "I could tell you that but…"

She shot him a dubious look. "Watch it."

He smiled even wider. "One of us will be the striped balls, the other the solids. The object is to clear all your balls off of the table and then hit the eight ball in."

Alexis nodded. "Okay, I think I can manage that."

She watched as Sonny took his first shot and sank a brightly colored yellow ball. "I'm solids," he said as he sunk another ball into the pocket. "Technically you're supposed to call your pocket, but since you're a novice, we'll just aim for the best available shot."

Sonny sank two more balls and missed the third. He handed the stick over to Alexis. "You're up." He said handing her the cue. He moved behind her and slid her jacket off of her shoulders, making sure his fingers grazed her skin. "You can't be comfortable playing in an Armani jacket," he said as he slid the garment off of her arms, revealing the cream silk tank she wore beneath.

"Thanks," she replied turning away from him and headed to the table, a sly smile crossing her face.

Sonny watched in amazement as Alexis began to sink one ball after the other, calling her pockets before she did so. Finally she was down to one ball. The eight ball sat between her ball and the pocket," she tucked the cue under her chin and thought for a moment.

"You…uh…" Sonny cleared his throat. "You should probably try to bank it."

Alexis turned a slick smile to him. "That won't be necessary," she said as she deliberately bent back over the table, allowing Sonny the perfect view of her backside. She heard him nervously clear his throat again. Alexis carefully aimed the cue at the white ball.

"You're going to knock the eight ball in," Sonny cautioned.

Alexis held her body still, turning only her head to him and winked. Turning her attention back to the table, she lined up her shot…the cue ball striking her striped ball causing it to jump over the eight ball and roll safely into the pocket. She stifled a laugh as she heard Sonny's exasperated sigh.

"Eight ball corner pocket," she said confidently and completed the shot. She turned back to Sonny and gave him doe eyes. "Did I win?"

Sonny shook his head and walked up to her, handing her a fresh beer. "I think I've been played."

Alexis put her palm to her chest. "Why Mr. Corinthos…are you accusing me of cheating?" she asked innocently.

"No counselor." Sonny said as he moved closer to her, backing her up against the pool table. "I'm accusing you of withholding information." He shot her a bemused look. "Where did you learn to play pool?"

"I wasn't a total stiff all of my life. I did occasionally go out for a drink or two in college."

"So you were a pool shark over at Harvard?"

She shook her head. "No, pre law school actually. I dated a guy who forced me to learn this game. I actually kind of enjoy it."

Sonny licked his lips. "You have no idea how much you're being a pool shark is turning me on."

"Really?" Alexis drawled.

"Oh yeah." Sonny replied as he lifted Alexis up so she was sitting on the pool table. "And you know what else?" Alexis shook her head.

"We've never…you know…you've never been wearing a business suit when we've…"

A sexy smile curled around Alexis' mouth. "You mean all this time you've been having impure thoughts about me in my business suits while we've conducted business?"

Sonny flashed the dimples. "Absolutely," he said right before his mouth crashed down on hers.

Alexis broke the kiss. "Uh…Sonny…" she panted. "Do you really think we should be doing this here?"

Sonny looked at her, his eyelids heavy with desire. "Can you think of a better place?"

Alexis nodded. "Yes actually."

Sonny nibbled her neck. "You really want to stop now?"

Alexis cleared her throat and let out a small moan. "Not really."

"Good," Sonny smiled as he lifted her silk tank top off of her body and lowered her down to the green felt of the pool table. He paused and took her in. "Alexis Davis, you never fail to amaze me."

Alexis hooked two fingers in the waistband of his pants and pulled him down to her. "You ain't seen nothing yet," she said breathlessly as Sonny crawled onto the pool table.

chapter 6