Susanne Novan - Driven

dear and longtime friend. And she thought, just maybe, it would be good to open up.

"I kissed her," she said softly, as if that explained it all.

"Excuse me?" Mac asked, bringing a hand up to his ear. "Did I hear you say you kissed someone?"

Dylan shot him a look. "Catherine."

"Deneuve? Isn’t she a little old for you?"

"Hodges, you idiot."

"Cath—ohhh….ohhhh….oh no. Oh no, you did notjust say you kissed your star player. I didn’t just hear that. I didn’t hear that at all." When Dylan didn’t respond, Mac spun on her. "Damnit, D, what were you thinking?!?"

"There wasn’t much thinking going on," Dylan admitted ruefully.

"Oh, this is bad." Mac began to pace, his boot heels striking the court hard as he stepped. "Oh, this is worsethan bad. Awwww Christ."

"Calm down, Mac. You’re gonna give yourself a stroke."

Mac whirled again, eyes wide, temple vein standing out, throbbing. "Stroke? Good! If I’m lucky, I’ll be too out of it to see your career explode all over the front page news!!"

"Mac," Dylan replied with some heat, "it was a kiss, for god’s sake! It’s not like we’re getting married. Hell, we’re not even sleeping together."

Mac stopped. "You’re not?"

"No."

"But…you want to, right?"

"Jesus, Mac!" Dylan exploded. "Give me a little more credit than that! Give Catherinea little more credit!"

"So you don’t want to?"

Dylan threw her hands up in the air and walked off, leaving Mac to stare after her.

After a moment, Mac trotted after her. "Dylan…Dylan wait up. I’m sorry. I acted like an ass. I’m sorry."

Dylan slowed, but didn’t turn.

Mac sighed. "Listen…it’s just…. Aside from the fact that we’ve got a bigot for a boss, D, fraternization with one of your players goes against everything in your contract, from the morals clause on down. It’s not that she’s a woman. It’s that you’re her boss. Her being a woman is just icing on the cake."

He studied the tense and silent lines of her back. "Look, I know you already know all this. Hell, you probably know it better than me, but it’s….damnit, D, it’s my job to tell you."

"I know," Dylan said quietly, still facing away from him.

Mac relaxed a little. "And I’m your friend too, D. And I don’t want you in the position of having to defend your actions if Catherine wants to pursue a sexual harassment suit against you."

Dylan slowly turned. Her eyes were flaring, though outwardly, she appeared composed. "She won’t."

"But how do you know? I mean, don’t get me wrong, D, I like Cat. She’s a good kid. A helluva player. But…it’s happened before, with good people and good players. I don’t want it to happen to you this time."

"It won’t."

"How can you be so sure?"

Dylan sighed. "She initiated it, Mac."

Mac felt as if the weight of the world had rolled off his shoulders. "She initiated it?"

"That’s what I said."

"Thank God! Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?"

"She wasn’t alone in it, Mac. I responded. I enjoyed it. I….god." Her shoulders slumped and she stared down at the ground. "It’s something I was thinking about before it even happened."

"Awww, D."

"I know. I know. I’m attracted to her, Mac. Nothing I can do about that."

"You’ve been attracted to women before, D. You don’t always…."

"Kiss them?"

"Yeah."

"It just happened. It just…."

"Will it happen again?"

Dylan shook her head. "I don’t know."

Mac gentled his tone. "Do you wantit to happen again?"

And that was the million dollar question. Part of her, a very large part, did want it. Another part, smaller but just as strident, wanted to run away screaming, for the exact reasons Mac had so succinctly spelled out to her. In the end, she answered the only way she could.

"I don’t know."

******

Part 3

She closed her eyes and finally fell into a fitful sleep. Her mind was wandering all over the spectrum. Part of her was admittedly rather giddy over the kiss, and another part of her was terrified that she had really messed up.

The dream started rather simply.

She was playing basketball.

The scene switched between the driveway of her parents home and the empty Badgers arena. She was shooting great, enjoying nothing but net every time.

Looking down, she realized she was stark naked.

Looking to the sideline, she also realized that Dylan Lambert was watching her, eyes avid to her every move.

She stopped and tried to cover her body with her hands, only to have Dylan smirk at her. The coach began walking forward slowly. Cat could hear her heart pounding in her ears and threatening to beat right out of her chest.

"Catherine?"

The player’s knees went weak with the seductive quality of Dylan saying her name. "Yes?"

"You’re very attractive."

"Thanks." she managed to squeak, wondering briefly why she was naked and Dylan wasn’t. What kind of screwed up dream is this anyhow ?

"Very…." Dylan paused and ran her finger over Cat’s shoulder, causing her to shiver and further causing goose bumps to break out all over her skin. "…

attractive."

"Oh God," Cat moaned when she felt Dylan’s lips where her fingers had been only a second before.

With a blur, the scene shifted again, and now she was standing in the pet store. She looked down and found that once again, the God of dreams had taken her clothes. Funny how no one else noticed, but there was Dylan Lambert, smirking.

Again.

Soon she found herself back up against a wall. Dylan was kissing her and pressed so hard against her body she could barely breathe. Where she should have panicked, all she felt was excitement. If this was a dream—and she knew it was—let it continue for eternity.

When she gasped, they shifted the floor of the arena and the kiss continued, long and passionate. Cat wanted nothing more than to crawl under Dylan’s skin and stay there.

She moaned, and suddenly woke up.

Hamlet was licking her face with the all enthusiasm of a man lost in the desert going after an oasis.

"Oh gross!" She pushed him away and wiped the copious amounts of puppy drool from her face. "Thanks for ruining a perfectly wonderful dream. Well, all except that naked thing."

She looked over at her alarm clock and realized it was already time to get up. Sighing, she got out of bed and trudged to the shower.

Once she was dressed, she grabbed Hamlet’s leash and took him out for his morning walk. It was raining, but not hard, and she decided there was no

sense in going back for a jacket, because once Hamlet set his mind to the task at hand, it usually didn’t take very long. In less than ten minutes she was on her way back the apartment, just a little soggy, but with a happy puppy.

Breakfast was prepared; bacon and eggs for Cat, kibble for Hamlet. Per his morning routine, Hamlet ate, burped and then lay down by the front door. Cat

continued to eat, and read the morning paper as she did. He eyes landed on an ad for cell phones and a blonde brow curved in contemplation.

"Maybe I should join the 21st century. Whaddya think Hamlet? Does Mom need a cell phone?"

On cue he rolled over on his back, with all four paws sticking in the air.

"Stop that, you look like road kill."

He whined and flopped over on his side.

"Thank you." She took another bite of her bacon and continued with the paper.

*******

Two hours later, Cat stood in front of the store holding her new cell phone in her hand and looking quite please with herself. Of course the two hundred