Game Day
by Cowgirl

chapter 20 - Pain in the Aft

Sonny unlocked Alexis' penthouse door, handed her the keys and stepped the hell out of the way as she stormed past him into the living room. He had barely time to walk in and shut the door himself when she turned on him and jabbed a finger into his chest. "This has got to be the most reprehensible thing that you have ever done." She glared at him, her nostrils flaring with anger. "And you've done some pretty reprehensible things." She finished as she turned on her heel and marched up the stairs. Moments later the sound of Alexis' bedroom door slamming shut echoed through the house.

Sonny sighed and followed her to the bottom of the stairs. "Lex...come on." He called up.

"Go home Corinthos," came the reply from upstairs.

Sonny shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, not quite sure if he should go home, or if he should wait for her to cool off. He decided it would be smarter to sit on her couch and wait her out. He turned to move to the couch when he saw Kristina and Ned sitting there watching the entire exchange. Kristina with her usual sisterly concern and Ned with a beaming with pride at watching Alexis tear Sonny a new one smile on his face.

Sonny cleared his throat nervously and absently pointed over his shoulder to the stairs. "She's...ah...she's a little upset with me."

Kristina stood up and regarded Sonny cautiously. "I can see that...um...what happened?"

Sonny glanced back up at the stairs and back to Kristina. "Well...ah...it's complicated."

Kristina moved towards Sonny and stopped. "Sonny?"

Sonny gave her his attention.

"Sonny, why was my sister soaking wet?"

Sonny winced and cocked his head to the side. "It was an accident." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"I took her sailing."

Kristina raised both eyebrows. "Sonny, she hates..."

"Boats...I know that now." He brought his hands up and then dropped them back down to his sides. "How the hell was I supposed to know that? She grew up on an island right?"

Kristina shook her head and moved to the bottom of the stairs. "She grew up on and island, yes. She loves the water, she's an excellent swimmer...but she's deathly afraid of boats."

Sonny threw out his hand in an exasperated gesture. "Well how the hell does she get to Spoon Island then?"
Kristina pursed her lips. "Very carefully. She won't let the boat driver go too fast and she hangs on for dear life?" She looked up at the stairs again. "What did you do?"

Sonny waved his hand. "Forget it. I better go up and see if I can calm her down," he said and started up the stairs.
Kristina placed a hand on his chest and stopped him. "I think she's mad enough at you. I'll go," she replied and headed up to Alexis' bedroom.

Sonny stood watching after Kristina for several moments after she had gone. Finally he turned and walked to the chair opposite the couch and sat down. He sighed and looked up, locking eyes with a still smiling Ned. "What are you grinning at?" he snapped.

Ned chuckled and sat back against the couch. "Seeing you feel the wrath of an angry Alexis is very amusing."

"Shut up."

Kristina knocked gently on the door to her sister's room. "Alexis?"

"Is he still down there?" Alexis answered from behind the closed door.

"Um...yeah. Can I come in?"

There was silence for a moment and then a towel clad Alexis opened the door. "Come in," she invited and headed back into her room stopping in front of her mirror to finish drying her hair with a towel.

Kristina cautiously entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened?"

Alexis stopped and dropped the towel on her vanity. She sighed and turned to her sister. "Sometimes that man can be the biggest idiot in the world."

Kristina chuckled. "Can't they all?"

Alexis shook her head. "This one in particular." She moved to her dresser and pulled out a sweat suit. "I mean how brainless does one have to be?"

Kristina ducked her head, ready for the aftermath. "Alexis...what exactly did Sonny do?"

She stopped dressing and glared at her sister. "What did he do? I tell you what he did."

She pulled her sweatshirt on and zipped it up, joining her sister on her bed. "We woke up this morning..."

"We?" Kristina smiled.

Alexis shot her a look. "Don't start."

"Sorry."

"Anyway we woke up this morning and I ask Sonny what he's making me for breakfast. He tells me he's not making me anything...that he's got a surprise for me and we have to get going soon." She grabs her nearby pillow and drops it into her lap. "So, we get ready and we get in the limo." She glanced sheepishly at Kristina and waved a hand. "I already told you about our weird Sunday sports thing."

Kristina nodded and stifled a chuckle. "I can't image you being turned on by sports as foreplay."

Alexis' head snapped in her sister's direction. "It's not so much the sports as it is what happens after...never mind, you get the idea."

Kristina nodded, clearly amused that her stodgy, all business, commitment phobic, emotion guarding sister was displaying the tiniest bit of sexual abandonment.

"So we end up at the pier. Sonny, much to my dismay, has rented a sailboat."

"Sounds like he was trying to be romantic."

Alexis snorted. "Romantic? Even after I explained to him my insane fear of boats, he brow beat me into going on the damn thing."


"Lex, look, I've got a gourmet breakfast catered on that boat. I have flowers and music and I'd thought we'd spend a romantic day together out on the lake," Sonny pleaded as he nuzzled her neck.

Alexis pulled away from him slightly and looked around. "Sonny, don't. We're out in public, anyone could see us."

Sonny stepped back and ran a finger across his lips. "Would that be so bad?"

Alexis' mouth dropped open. "Sonny, we don't even know what it is we're doing...you want to try and explain to the rest of Port Charles why Sonny Corinthos and his lawyer are canoodling on the docks?"

"We're canoodling?" Sonny asked with a grin.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Sonny."

Sonny moved closer to her, placing his hand on her hip, his other snaking around and resting on her back. He pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. When Alexis put her hands on his chest and pushed him away, glaring at him, he knew he had his ace in the hole.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Sonny pulled out the dimples. "Well, the way I see it. Either you can take my hand and get on that sailboat with me, enjoy a great breakfast, a nice sail, and..." he wiggled his eyebrows. "Whatever else may happen out there, or I can just take you right here on the docks for all the world to see."

Alexis stood with her jaw clenched. "You're blackmailing me?"

Sonny nodded, proud of himself. "Yeah, I am."

Alexis took several angry, ragged breaths before turning and walking the gangplank to the boat. She got half way across the walkway when she stopped in a moment of panic, suddenly remembering her fear of boats and falling off of them. She turned with a deer in headlights expression and pleaded with Sonny. "I can't..."

Sonny moved to her and took her by the shoulders, turning her around and guiding her the rest of the way to the boat. "See there? You made it. Now just lift that beautiful leg of yours and step onto the deck."

Alexis narrowed her eyes. "I hate you for making me do this," she said with disdain as she carefully placed one foot on the deck of the boat, then the other. She turned. "Wouldn't you rather go home and watch that brand new television of yours? There must be some sort of sporting event on."

Sonny smiled and stepped onto the boat behind her. "Well you see, sailing is a sport," he said as he released the lines connecting the boat to the dock. He went to the wheel and gently guided the boat out of the harbor. When they were safely in open water, and far enough away where he knew Alexis wouldn't try to swim for it, he smiled.

"Today you and I are going to be active participants in the world of sporting."

Alexis, who was now sitting on a bench that was bolted to the floor of the boat, clutching on as if letting go would send her flailing into an abyss narrowed her eyes. "Come again?"

"You didn't happen to notice a crew here did you? Who did you think was going to work this sailboat?"

Alexis' eyes were as wide as saucers. "I hate you."

Sonny moved from the wheel of the boat and sat down next to her. "You do not hate me." He took her hand.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"I hate boats."

"Why?"

Alexis sighed and finally waved a hand. "Its Stavros related and I don't want to talk about it."

Sonny nodded and moved back to the wheel. He steered the boat for the next half-hour and then dropped the anchor, shutting down the motor. He reached out his hand indicating Alexis to take it. She looked up at him with a sour face, rolled her eyes and finally took his hand letting him pull her to him. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

As mad as she was for him forcing her to go on a boat, her resolve couldn't help but weaken when he was touching her. She silently cursed herself for letting him get to her and leaned back into his embrace. Sonny pointed out into the distance. "Look at that Lex. It's beautiful isn't it?"

Alexis looked out over the vast body of water. It was calm, just a few ripples from time to time, the morning sun bouncing off of the water. She breathed in deep and closed her eyes. "I guess it's all right."

Sonny turned her around and held her at arm's length. "I've got breakfast waiting in the galley. Let's go eat and then I'm going to teach you to sail."

"And who taught you to sail?" Alexis questioned as she sat down at the tiny table in the galley.

Sonny moved around the small area of the boat pulling cartons out of Kelly's bags and setting them on the table. He began dishing out scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Joe Scully," he said quickly and continued to busy himself.

"Oh," Alexis replied, knowing not to go any further.

Finally he sat down across from her and smiled. "Don't be mad at me...I thought you would enjoy this." He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't know about your boat thing."

Alexis just looked at him. "Eat your breakfast."

An hour later Sonny and Alexis were on the deck of the boat with Sonny explaining the finer points of sailing. He covered the basics with her. "Port is the left side of the boat. Starboard is the right side of the boat. The front of the boat is the bow and the back is called the aft."

"I have a question," Alexis interrupted.

Sonny smiled. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"Funny. Seriously though, we just got this boat out here without the sails and I swear I could hear a motor."

Sonny nodded. "That's right. Sailboats have motors. But the sport of sailing is operating the boat with the sails."

Alexis waved her hand. "How silly of me."

Sonny pointed straight ahead. "What we're doing now," he said as he untied some lines. "We're going in the same direction as the wind. That's called running before the wind. Now, if we have a specific location in mind that we're going to, we can't always be going the same direction of the wind so we have to angle the sails at different degrees so that the wind catches the sails no matter what direction we're going in."

"Is this going to require physical exertion on my part?"

"Yes," Sonny smiled. "We're going to set the sails at a ninety degree angle so that we go this way." He indicated by pointing.

"Okay, so how do we do that?"

"We turn the boat...or come about by doing what is called changing tack. We're going to change our course first to the left of the wind then to the right at forty five-degree angles allowing the wind to fill the sails and guide us that way. Another way to change tack is by steering the boat away from the wind, sort of turning the sails flat against the wind and allowing it to fill the sails and push us in the direction we want to go." He indicated the large beam along the bottom of the sail. "That's the boom. It's attached to the mast...that's the big pole standing straight up. The boom swings the sails in either direction. You have to watch that carefully or it will swing and knock you out...or overboard. So always be aware of that."

Alexis brought her hand up in mock salute. "Aye, aye captain."

Sonny taught Alexis the finer points of sailing for the better part of an hour, encouraging her to actively help him run the boat, which she attempted and did pretty well at. Finally Alexis sat down and put up a hand. "I'm done."

She said breathlessly,"I'm exhausted and the rocking motion is starting to get to me."

Sonny looked at her with a crestfallen expression. "I didn't change your mind about boats?"

Alexis squinted up at him. "Not really." She stood and went to him wrapping both of her arms around one of his and leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's not you. I just hate boats."

Sonny turned her in his arms and looked into her eyes. "Ever have sex on the bow of a boat?"

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "No, I can't say as I have."

Sonny gave her a smoldering look and squeezed her waist. "Want to?"

Alexis looked into his eyes. "Yes, I think I do," she said as Sonny moved in and captured her mouth with his own, simultaneously lowering them both to the ground.

Sonny and Alexis sat on a blanket on the deck stark naked staring out at the water ahead of them. Alexis sat in front of Sonny and leaned back into him, his arms folded around her. "See?" he said. "Boats aren't all that bad."

"Still not thrilled with them," Alexis replied stubbornly. She turned her head and looked at Sonny. "Is there anything to drink on this boat?"

Sonny nodded. "There's bottled water in the fridge. I'll get it."

Alexis placed her hand on his leg. "Stay, I'll get it," she said, getting up and moving toward the ladder leading to the hull of the boat. "I feel like a naturalist being out here in the open unclothed."

Sonny smiled and watched her. "No one's around for miles...don't worry about it."

Neither one of them saw it coming and by the time Sonny saw it at all, it was too late. An undercurrent had created a wave that crashed into the side of the boat causing it to rock. "Lex hold onto something!" Sonny shouted as he did the same.

Alexis turned to call to Sonny just as the boom broke loose from its line and met with Alexis' backside sending her careening into the water.

Sonny jumped up and grabbed the life preserver that hung on the bow of the boat and threw it to her. She grabbed at it several times as the water kept tossing it away from her. "Sonny," she called up to him.

"Hang on Lex, let me throw it out again." He gave it a toss and it hit its mark...Alexis' head. She angrily grabbed the ring and kicked her legs as Sonny pulled the rope in.

"Corinthos...ooh you are going to pay for this!" Alexis yelled. "I told you I hate boats and now I hate you."

He pulled her around to the back of the boat where the ladder was located and held out a hand as she climbed up.

It was then that Alexis heard the applause from behind her. She stopped her descent up the ladder and turned her head to see a large garbage scow and its crew clapping and cheering wildly at her.

"Hey Mister!" one of them yelled to Sonny. "Nice catch...wish I could get that lucky."

"Yeah!" another one shouted. "Hey, why don't you hold her up by her fins and we'll take a picture of you and your catch."

Alexis turned to Sonny. "Have I mentioned that I hate you?"

Sonny nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times." He tried to smile." But you gotta admit this is kind of funny."

Alexis' eyes bugged out of her head. "Funny? You think this is funny? I'm buck naked on the ladder of a boat with a bunch of men on a garbage scow gawking and catcalling me and you think this is funny?" She shook her head angrily. "I’ll show you funny buster." She finished climbing the ladder and stood in all her glory facing the men on the other boat. "Hey boys!" she shouted. "Do you think you could give me a lift? I'm sick of playing with his dinghy." She hooked her thumb back at Sonny. A round of whistles and cheers arose from the other boat.

"Lex," Sonny begged. "Come over here and let me cover you up."

"But why? This is funny." She turned back toward the men. "I'd be grateful to see how a real seaman operates."

"Come on aboard lady," yelled one of the men.

Sonny moved forward and picked Alexis up over his shoulder. "Show's over boys!" he called to the other boat as he carried Alexis down below.

"You suck Mister!" one of the men called out.

Kristina fell back on the bed and rolled onto her side, laughing hysterically. "Oh my God Alexis, that is the funniest thing ever."

Alexis couldn't help but laugh with her. "Looking back it is rather funny...I'm just not letting him know that."

Kristina sat up and hugged and arm around her sister's shoulder. "Don't make him suffer too long," she said as she made her way to the door.

"Oh send him up," Alexis said finally breaking down her barrier. "Are you and Ned by chance going out?"

Kristina nodded. "We're on our way...don't worry. You and Sonny can kiss and make up in private," she said and left the room.

A few minutes later Sonny peeked around her doorframe. "Is it safe?" he asked.

Alexis stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "That depends. Are you going to make me go on another boat?"

Sonny held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Oh that means a lot coming from you."

Sonny moved forward and sat next to her on the bed, giving her his best puppy eyes. "Are you really sick of playing with my dinghy?"

Alexis grabbed his face with both hands. "I don't know why I let you get away with the things you do."

Sonny smiled and leaned in until their lips touched. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "I think you do."

chapter 21