Support Play

by Ella Jackson

  Tanya laughed. "Neither did I; you'll learn." She exchanged looks with Will and Jessie. "Something tells me that you will be here for a while yet.

  Dale emerged from the seminar room. "Hey guys. This is…"

  "We're way ahead of you, Dale," Will said."I think you'll have some explaining to do to Keisha later on, though."

  Dale looked back and forth, a confused expression on his face. "What?"

  Jessie, sensing the moment, interrupted. "Right, time for this later. Everyone into the seminar room; I've got some analysis from the last game I want to go over with all of you, before you get out onto the pitch. Will, when you see what I've got to show you, it might affect your strategy choices for the first quarter."

  They disappeared into the seminar room, still talking. Dale looked back at me. "You going to be okay here for the moment?"

  "Sure, I've got stuff I need to catch up on anyway. I'll see you outside on the training pitch when you're done with the seminar." He looked like he was about to catch me up in a hug, but stopped himself.

  "Okay." A pause. "Take care of yourself."

  I tried not to laugh. "I don't think I'll be able to get in much trouble here, even if I try."

  After training, Dale invited everyone back to his house for drinks. I was nervous about being around all of them so soon, but he took my hands in his, putting my fears to rest.

  "It's okay, honey. I want you to see everyone outside of work, okay?"

  I looked up at him a little fearfully. "Do they know about…?"

  He smiled, a little ruefully. "Yeah, they know. This place gossips more than a knitting circle sometimes, believe me. I thought about trying to keep things secret, but it was completely impossible. You can trust them, though; Will and Tanya and Jessie would die before they put you in a difficult position, and even Ricky, although he can be a dick, has a good heart. They'll do everything they can to make you feel welcome, seriously."

  I looked down at his hands. "Yeah, I guess I can see what you mean. This isn't a great look for a reporter – sleeping with the subject of her story – but I want you to know that I wouldn't take things back if I could, okay?"

  He smiled at me. "Yeah, I know. Now come and help me get this beers and snacks out of the fridge."

  Ricky motioned to the living room. "Hey, babe, where is the hound?" Ever since I'd been coming here, I was amazed at how much time Ricky spent playing with the dog. Cyrus loved him, and he loved her. Sometimes Dale joked that she was the only girl Ricky had really lost his heart to.

  I indicated the outdoor area. "I think she's outside, playing with a bone."

  "Okay." He disappeared outside and I heard his voice calling for her.

  As I helped Dale get people settled, and offered them a drink, I was amazed at how easy it was for me to fit in. Everyone made a point of including me in conversation, laughing at my jokes, asking me questions about what's going on. Not once did I feel left out, even though the team was obviously very close.

  Across the room, I saw Tanya's dark eyes watching me. She smiled, and tilted her head. She said a lot in that tilt of her head; and I realised that maybe she'd been in the same situation herself.

  Jessie sat down next to me, a glass in one hand. "Hey, how you doing?"

  "Okay, although this sure isn't helping story. I'm surprised you guys are partying on a week night. "

  She shrugged. "This isn't exactly a party; it's just a bunch of friends getting together. Besides, we have to make time to enjoy the journey, as well as the destination. Often after again, the guys don't really feel like doing much. We'll often just debrief, and then everyone will go home to rest up, and then the cycle starts all over again. It can be exhausting until you get used to it."

  I nodded my head. "Yeah, I can believe it. You're so lucky to have such a great group of people, though."

  "Yes, we are, but we also made it for ourselves. It isn't always like this, and it wasn't like this when Will started." She nodded towards the captain, sitting on another sofa next to Tanya.

  "He really welded this team together with his arrival, and our first win was mostly due to him turning us into a single unit. Without him, none of this would have happened." She gestured to the rest of the team, perched around the room on chairs and beanbags. "Now, they will have their roles to play, and everyone is getting used to being part of what's going on. All I have to do is just try and keep on the right path."

  I raised my glass to her. "I can't think of a better girl to do it than you, Jessie. Here's to you."

  She smiled and acknowledged my toast. "Maybe so. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found this job, honestly. We're almost complete now, although we do need a team physio. We've been getting by on contractors for the last couple of weeks, but that's not in the budget, and we need a long-term appointment. Let me know if you know anyone suitable."

  I thought about Nicole, and shuddered at the idea of her being exposed to a bunch of sports jocks. "I do, but… Let's just say it might complicate matters a bit."

  Jessie through her arm around me. "Yeah, I hear you. To be honest, I think we're used to that kind of complication in the Thunderbirds. Ask Will to tell you about how he and Tanya met one day."

  I felt a presence behind me, and Dale's hands were on my shoulders. "Jess, can I steal Keisha away for a moment?"

  Jessie cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, but you'd better give her back in good condition."

  He squeezed my shoulder. "I promise."

  Outside in the hallway, Dale wrapped his arms around me, and I sink into them, warm and comfortable.

  "Hey, you. You doing okay?"

  I kissed him on the cheek. "Better than okay, actually. Your friends are really nice. This could have been bad, but I'm having a great time."

  "Good. I knew you'd fit right in. I guess maybe we have you to thank for Jessie being here in the first place. Since you were with her at journalism school."

  "Quite the reverse. I tried to talk her out of leaving to do a computer degree anyway. I wanted her to come and work with me and be a reporter. But, she said that her heart wasn't in it, and she was going to go and find something else to do. Now look at her."

  There was a knock on the door. "Ah, that would be the pizza." Dale winked at me. "Sure, we're training, I know what you're about to say. But that doesn't mean we can't have a slice or two now and again. Come and help me dish it out, okay?"

  There was a ragged cheer from the assembled company when Dale walked in with the pizzas. Everyone piled in, and soon the room was full of contented sound of eating. I caught the look on Dale's face, and it was one of quiet happiness. This was his place, his friends, his team. I felt so lucky to be able to be a part of it.

  Seventeen

  Dale

  “You okay?” Keisha finally stopped patting Cyrus, closing the door behind the last of my guests - our guests - and turned to me.

  “Never better.” Finally done with my hospitality, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me, her body pressed against mine as her leg wrapped around my thigh.

  She pouted. “Look, mister, you’ve got me all wrong.”

  “Have I?” I pushed her back against the wall. "I've been waiting to get you alone all night."

  She smiled and slipped her arms around my neck. “You know you don’t have to wait on me.”

  Stroking the side of her face, I leaned in to kiss her, our lips almost touching, and she looks at me wide-eyed. “Have I mentioned how happy I am that I don't have to coax you into an interview?”

  I grimaced. "Oh yeah. That. The things we do for love."

  “I love you, too, Dale,” she whispered.

  Before I could speak another word, she parted my lips with her tongue, our kisses soft and passionate while also rough and aggressive. I feel almost afraid, being so close to her, so intimate. This is everything I wanted.

  "I'm glad you got to meet everyone. This really meant a lot to me, Keisha."

  "Me too." She smiled so wide it re
ached up to her eyes again. “Now kiss me again, and then take me to the bedroom and do unspeakable things to me.”

  I leant down, burying my face in her neck, breathing in the sweet scent of her skin. “Whatever you say, boss.” I reached down and hauled her over my shoulder, and she shrieked, half-aggrieved, half in surprise.

  "Put me down!"

  "Are you about to call me a lummox?" I figure I'd better pre-empt that sort of language.

  A voice emerged from somewhere near the small of my back. "I've never thought about doing it, but right now, it does seem appropriate, yes."

  "Well, you could beat your fists uselessly as well, maybe," I supplied helpfully.

  "Thanks for the suggestion." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, which wasn't exactly what I hoped she'd be dripping with at this point.

  "Look, we're nearly at the bedroom now." I kicked the bedroom door open, and deposited Keisha gently on the bed. "Happy?"

  She pouted again, and I tried not to laugh. "Only just. Come here and make it up to me."

  "Gladly." I kneeled over her on the bed, kissing my way down her neck, and she sighed with pleasure. She cocked her head in my direction, a curious look on her beautiful face. I leaned forward to strip her of her trousers and panties and throw them on the floor behind me, licking my lips at the sight of her wet pussy.

  I removed my shirt and then worked on my jeans and boxers, leaving a pile of clothes behind me, as I got on the bed with Keisha and positioned myself between her legs. Taking my time, I spread her thighs, and started kissing my way up them from her knees, first one, then the other.

  A gasp. "Oh, fuck, Dale, yes..."

  She spread her legs, and leaving a trail of kisses from her knees up her thighs, I slipped two fingers inside her dripping wet pussy. “Dale,” she moaned as she shivered with pleasure, and after her body stopped trembling, I pulled back my fingers and took hold of my cock, easing inside her slowly, giving her a few seconds to adjust to my size. She made a hissing sound as I entered her and bit down on her bottom lip.

  “That’s right, babe. Take me inside you.” I said, my voice hoarse with desire for her.

  With a firm grip, I lifted her leg up and over my shoulder, and pushed further inside her. She strengthened the hold she had on me, as her moans tured into screams and an intense orgasm rocked through her. I felt the curl of her smile as she buried her face back into my chest.

  Now that she had come, I pumped faster, the sweat trickling down my forehead with each thrust. My body trembled one last time as I kissed her, slow and passionate, more sensual than normal.

  After I planted a few more kisses on her neck and chest, I slid out of her and rolled onto my side of the bed. “You’re so fucking sweet, Keisha,” I rested her head on my chest, still trying to catch my breath.

  "Dale, you have no idea how you make me feel.” She was still flat on her back, hands clasped across her chest, her gorgeous breasts rising and falling.

  I grinned. “I think I have an idea.” I held her tight, never wanting to let her go. “You are my world, babe.”

  “I feel the same way, Dale.” She hooked her leg around my thigh, burrowing her face in my chest, as she wrapped herself around me tightly. “This is new for me. I've never felt this way about someone before.”

  "Neither have I." I replied quietly.

  I knew we have a lot to work out and learn about each other, but I’d never wanted to be with anyone like I do with her.

  After a short time, Keisha rolled over and positioned herself on top of me. "I could get used to this, you know?"

  I stroked her back, making her arch and purr with pleasure. "Uh-huh. So could I, I think."

  “I think you have an ulterior motive,” she said, the corners of her mouth turning up. "Maybe you're just trying to get a positive spin on this story."

  I raised my eyebrows quizzically. "That would be a pretty extreme form of public relations, to be fair. On the other hand, maybe the side benefits would make all that effort worth it." I kissed her again on her neck. "And it would take a very long time to get the right result."

  "Oh, really? How long are we talking?" Her face is half amused, cheeks, still flushed, eyes half closed.

  "Could be quite some time." I paused. "Years maybe."

  "Right."

  "Of course," I said carefully, "it would have to be a live-in role. If the applicant was so inclined."

  Her deep, regular breathing stopped for a moment, and she looked straight at me. "Really?"

  "Yeah. Really." I screwed up my courage and decided to go for broke. "I want you to move in here with me, Keisha. Seriously. If you want to, that is."

  There was a pause, and her eyes sparkled. "Yes. Yes, you big jerk. That's the best suggestion you've had all week."

  I tried not to breath out too obviously. "Good. You had me going for a minute there."

  "I can't have you getting too complacent. Now, kiss me-" We were interrupted by a large, cold nose pushed into my thigh.

  Keisha gave another small shriek, just like when I tossed her over my shoulder. It was really very cute. "Cyrus!"

  I snapped my fingers, and Cyrus wagged her tail as she pressed herself into Keisha. "I think she likes you. She's got excellent taste, you know?" Starved of attention after the team left, she'd evidently decided to come upstairs and find out what all the noise was.

  "Well," Keisha sighed, settling into me, "now you've got three women in the house to be dealing with. How are you going to cope with THAT, Mister Big Shot Defender, huh?"

  When she put it like that, it did seem like a lot of women for one quiet-living dude to have to handle.

  Eighteen

  Keisha

  I threw the last of my clothes into my big old suitcase, stood back and looked around the room. My little bedroom looked a lot bigger and now that everything was piled up in one corner, and I thought back about all the nights I had spent sitting on my bed working on a story, trying to get it in before deadline.

  I was going to miss being here in this apartment, and most of all, although I was excited to be moving in with Dale, I was going to miss Nic.

  I was going to miss her crazy jokes, her late-night stories of partying and dancing, all the things that I hadn't done, but I loved hearing about. She'd been a great friend, despite how different we were, and it was going to feel strange not having her to come home to every day.

  "Well." Nicole stood in the doorway, and I did a double take at what she was wearing.

  "Nic, it's 1 p.m. in the afternoon. Why are you wearing a cocktail dress and stiletto heels?"

  She grinned, and did a twirl. "What, this old thing? To be honest your packing inspired me to go out and clean out my wardrobe. I found this, and, well, I decided to see if it still fit."

  I eyed her somewhat enviously. "That? It looks fantastic. You look like a knockout. As always."

  "Thanks, but I'm not sure I can breathe out. I mean, it's great that I can still fit into it, but being unable to exhale is kind of a downside, you know?" She frowned at her reflection in the mirror. "Look like it back to the rice bran muffins for me."

  Now it was my turn to make a face. "I had a rice bran muffin once. It was chocolate, I think. At least they said it was chocolate; in truth it tasted like a chocolate covered tennis ball. I'm not doing that again."

  Nicole laughed and came to lean against the wall next to me. "Yeah, I hear you. Sometimes this whole thing about being a physiotherapist makes people assume that you can't have any vices of your own, you know? Like, you're always supposed to be perfect and never want to stuff your face with cake, or have one too many glasses of champagne. Unfortunately, real people don't live their lives on goddamned Instagram. A fact which many of my clients don't seem to understand."

  I nodded. "I guess that's what you get being our an exercise guru for rich people, right? I mean all those oil exec housewives and branches daughter's, the ones you have to go and drive miles to see, you'd think that they would be fit and active from w
orking outdoors all day."

  She shook her head. "Some are, but mostly they have too much damn money for their own good. Plus everyone is obsessed with Instagram models these days. I'm sure you've seen them as much as anybody else, and it's really hard to tell people that they are never going to look like someone who is dehydrated and has been starving themselves or morning, and is standing at a specific angle so as to look as skinny as possible. Sometimes, you know, I wish I could just work with people who wanted something other than to be as skinny as they possibly could."

  I thought for a moment. "Nic, this might sound like a dumb idea, but Jessie said that the Thunderbirds are going to need a physio. Apparently they've been using locums for some time now, but they need a full-time permanent position. Think it's something you could be interested in?"

  She pushed herself off the wall with her palms, picking. After a minute, she shook her head. "No, I don't know. I mean, I'm not really a sports physio. And to be honest, the idea of having to deal with a whole lot of sweaty guys all day long really doesn't appeal, you know?" A wicked smile crossed her face. "I have to deal with sweaty guys all night long, let's face it; so I'm not sure I wanted to be a 24 seven thing, you know? Plus, sports jocks. They're all assholes."

  I did my best to look offended, even though I knew damn well she was joking. "Mostly assholes. Thank you very much."

  She grinned again. "Okay, okay. Mostly assholes. Sounds like you snagged just about the only available non-asshole there is."

  "Maybe." I made a half-hearted attempt to zip up my suitcase. "Being with Dale has taught me a lot about pro sport and how difficult it is. Don't get me wrong; those guys still get paid to damn much. But knowing that they could be out of it at any time, having to go anywhere they get traded to, not knowing what's gonna happen to them next year, or whether they can be out of a job. None of those things are things I'd want to do, that's for sure."