Bush League: New Adult Sports Romance

by Pfeiffer Jayst

  Quinn agrees to come with me and we walk down to the empty beach, a welcoming warm blanket of gold draped over the sand. The sun is at its most aesthetically pleasing point, Quinn's impossible beauty multiplied by magic hour. We find a spot just out of reach of the water and plop ourselves down, inching closer and closer until my arm is around her and she rests inside. Quinn presses her body against mine, her knees rest on my legs, her head on my chest.

  "Why is everything I want impossible?" she asks out loud. "I didn't realize I'd have to get rid of my dreams so soon."

  I pull her even closer into me and want to make it better.

  "Quinn, there's still time. You can have it all if you want. Don't give up."

  Her laugh vibrates through my body. "C'mon, Beau, grow up. Your dreams might come true but what about the rest of us? Should I spend the rest of my life auditioning, just hoping to be able to scrape together enough money to pay the rent? No, I have to be real and get ready to sit in a cubicle for the rest of my life. Not everyone gets to realize their dreams Beau, you're just lucky."

  I'm not letting go of her, no matter how cynical she's acting. "I'll always be here for you," I tell her and can actually feel her body start to stiffen up.

  "I don't know why I'm even trying," she says. "If you stay on my dad's team, we can't be together. If you get drafted, you'll be gone and I'll never see you again. You'll be pro before you know it and much more accomplished girls will be throwing themselves at you. I'm not gonna hold you back, this just isn't meant to be."

  I'm not making any headway in trying to get through to her and I don't want to waste a sunset trying to convince her. My grasp on her never loosens though; if she's right and we don't have a future, at least we have that moment together on the beach. The air off the water is crisp and refreshing and we sit in a momentary silence to enjoy the feeling of it on our faces.

  "So what's next?" I ask her, curious of her plans.

  "I take my test tomorrow and if I don't fuck it up, eventually get a diploma, get a job I hate and wait to die, I guess."

  I know I can't change her outlook but I still want to. I can't bear to know she's in this much pain. My finger lands underneath her chin and I gently guide her up to find me. Her eyes close and her soft lips find mine, feeling like heaven as the golden orange sun warms our faces and our lips embrace each other.

  "But we have tonight," I tell her as my fingers run through her soft, brown hair.

  "We have tonight," she repeats.

  When I lie on my back on the sand, Quinn comes with me, landing on top of my body. Our lips and bodies are inseparable, her hand working on the button of her shorts as I liberate my lower half from my own pants. Without any concern as to who may be watching, without any worry about protection, Quinn positions herself on top of my cock and moves her body up and down, back and forth, as her wetness starts to merge onto my skin. I caress the side of her head as she positions herself just right so that my throbbing passion is placed in the exact right spot, slowly lowering herself down onto me. It's a tight fit but as our tongues dance together, Quinn takes more of me inside a little at a time. No part of me is willing to accept that this is the last time ever; she's too perfect, she's too much a part of my dreams that I'm unwilling to give up.

  Quinn's muscles relax just enough so that the entirety of me is able to slide right in. She's so warm and wet. Her tightness hugs my stiff cock as she pushes me in and out. My arms grasp at her torso to feel as much of her as possible, to pull us even closer together. As I'm nestled deep inside of her, Quinn's eyes open and she looks deep into my soul.

  "I love you," she says just above a whisper, as though she's telling a regretful secret to herself.

  "I love you," I say back and mean it.

  Quinn grinds her clit directly against the hard part of my pelvis as she skillfully moves her hips around to keep me moving inside of her. She's intent on getting as much enjoyment as possible out of this, our supposed last tryst. My mind is intent on holding my body off of completion until she has reached that point for herself. Her hand suddenly pulls my head into her soft, clothed bosom forcefully as her hips continue to swivel on my lap.

  "Oh God, oh Beau," she yells out and I feel her fingers tighten on the back of my head to the point of a little discomfort on my end. I'll tolerate her clenching fingers if it will get her to the peak of her summit, I'll do anything for her. Her pussy clamps tightly around my cock, a slippery hug that I never want us to break. Her arms return to pulling my face into her chest and she lets out a gasp as if it has taken her by surprise. She presses down hard on my thickness and it's enough to get me where I'm headed and I can no longer hold out. As she thrashes on top of me, riding out the waves of her own pleasure, my dick sprays my seed deep inside of her in powerful spurts.

  When Quinn disengages and falls to my side, we're both out of breath and exhausted but not nearly tired of each other. Our hands lightly caress the other's body and we trade toying kisses. The sun is nearly gone, faded quickly before we even noticed - but it will return. What is gone isn't always gone forever. Under the light of the stars and moon, we're stare at each other with a love more powerful than the tide bringing the water back home.

  "So what now?" I ask, knowing I'm looking for trouble as she's already answered before.

  "I need to get home to go study," she tells me. "But I kind of need a ride."

  She looks up at me with begging eyes as if I'd just ditch her right on there on the beach. As we walk up the sand, the sound of the waves lapping behind us, I go to put my arm around her but Quinn twists away, hugging her chest and stepping an extra step further from me. We're silent on the walk up to the boardwalk to find my truck, the both of us dealing with too much to make small talk.

  Quinn lets me open the door for her when we arrive outside of my truck and she piles in without a word. When I join her inside, she's buckled in but has her knees pressed up to her chest and her eyes are trained on the window, staring with just a blank expression on her face. I start the engine and think better of bothering her by trying to get her to say something. We drive in silence all the way back to town, only the hum of my truck's engine filling the cab.

  "Um," I finally break the silence once we arrive a few blocks from her house. "Where do you want me to drop you off?" I ask.

  "You can just pull up to the house, I don't care. We won't be seeing each other any more so it doesn't matter."

  I do as she requests, still apprehensive that Coach is going to jump out of the bushes and kill me for having his daughter out late. Quinn opens the door and hops down, lingering a bit with her hand on the door, as if she's waiting for me to convince her that I can make this all better.

  "Take care of yourself, Quinn," I tell her and she somehow manages to look even sadder.

  "You too," she says before closing the door. I watch her amble up the steps to her home and once she's safely inside, I drive away for the last time.

  *****

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Quinn

  *****

  At no point in all this studying do I feel confident I understand any of it. All of the hours I've spent deep in these books and I feel like I've barely retained any of it. The clock keeps moving though and soon I'm going to have to put pen to paper whether I'm ready or not. As good as my discipline has been as of late, I'm still happy when my phone rings and provides a brief distraction. It's Becca and she's excited for the audition she helped set up for me.

  "Yeah...about that," I start and I know she can already tell where this is headed.

  "Cool," she says into the phone, not doing a good job in hiding her disappointment. "Just to be clear though, this isn't an opportunity that's ever going to come up again. Like, you can go to college whenever but getting a top tier audition with American Superstar...you'll probably never have the chance again."

  "I know, Becca," I assure her.

  "Cool. Well, good luck then with doing whatever," she tells me before hanging up. Ret
urning to the books doesn't seem very enticing so I decide to run the only errand I have before the test: picking up my car from the mechanic. Knowing the hefty bill I'm about to be faced with, I'm forced to skip a cab and face the injustice of the bus, my book with me in case I feel inspired to try and cram in more of this stuff.

  I'm not sure what kind of deal my father thought he was securing by having his friend do the repairs but I'm soon told by his pal that the something or other needed to be replaced and it is going to eat what's left of my savings. There is no other option, I need my car and the new part has already been placed inside. I'm directed to a little booth where I can go pay and it takes all of my strength to hand over my debit card. The woman sitting at the payment booth is cheerful and nice, tag says her name is 'Susan'.

  "And how are you doing today?" she asks and I bite my tongue to prevent from telling her the honest truth. Her kind inquiry shouldn't be rewarded with my unloading my heap of problems.

  "Fine," I tell her with a forced smile as she types away on her keyboard. I look around her little cubicle and can't miss all the framed pictures she has set up, pictures of her on a stage, of her getting an award and a few playbills hanging next to them. Susan seems way too accomplished to be tucked away behind a desk in a mechanic's garage. Next I see her framed diploma proudly announcing her as a graduate of State.

  "Oh hey," I speak up as she's typing. "I'm going to State now."

  Susan looks up with another kind smile. "Great school, lots of fun."

  When she returns to her typing, I can let it go. "Do you still act?" I ask and point towards one of her pictures. She turns to look at it herself, her smile falling a little when she returns to me.

  "Nah, haven't in some time. After I got my degree, I went right to work and life just kind of got in the way."

  "Do you miss it?" I ask though it's clear she does.

  "Yeah but I needed to focus on starting my career. Oh well, I got a good job and I'm very, very lucky." It's not clear if Susan is trying to assure me or convince herself that that is true. She hurries my transaction along and wishes me a great day. I've been served with another stiff dose of reality at a cost of only the rest of my savings.

  *****

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Beau

  *****

  Much to father's protest, I insist on taking my truck to the meeting and driving there separately. Before we go to our respective vehicles, he decides to leave me with some of his wisdom. "Good first impressions go a long way," he tells me as if that would be news. To him I'm not the star athlete, the feared pitcher; I'm his little boy that he's taking to a meeting.

  In an effort to keep this all super secret, we're ushered in through a backdoor, just in case any school officials happen to be in the area of the hotel. The paranoia is justified because if anyone sent word of this to the right people, it could dismantle my career and financially impact the team for years to come. Father and I walk down the hallway and arrive outside a typical, nondescript hotel room. When the door opens, there are very important men in suits sitting at a table. They stand when I walk in and I immediately feel like nobody, someone who doesn't belong somewhere so important.

  At no point do I feel comfortable with any of this. The secrecy adds to my guilt of ditching the team who in just an hour and a half will take the field and find I'm not there. Though I'm not usually one to feel guilt over doing something outside of the rules, this whole thing just feels underhanded and it's all in the name of securing me a couple extra bucks.

  Father sits on the opposite side of the room as these men read off questions from some papers. Their suits are perfectly pressed and neither has a hair out of place. They're wanting to know what I do for fun, do I have a girlfriend, where do I see myself in five years. I can feel my father shifting in his seat as I answer and pivot my responses until he settles down so I know I'm answering the way I'm supposed to. The men in suits have to know at least some of what's coming out of my mouth is bullshit, no doubt they've been down this road before with an overly invested parent. We just want the most money we can get and will say anything to get it.

  These guys aren't so innocent themselves though, telling me all about how great things will be when I know for a fact that the second I'm not performing well, I'll get shipped off somewhere else. The younger of the two intrigues me the most, he keeps looking at who I assume is his boss, making sure he's saying the right things.

  "We're just looking for a real team player, son," the younger one says and continues after getting a head nod from his boss. "That's how we do it in New York."

  The boss-man seems pleased and decides to add on to his young charge's statement. "We're looking for someone who's loyal. Our reports tell us you're fiercely loyal to those on your side. Is this true?"

  I can hear my father shift in his chair, hoping I'll answer the way he wants me to. The words are ready to fall out of my mouth, set to tell these men that I'm the most loyal motherfucker you'll ever meet. All I have to do is tell them that and I'll be set up in the New York farm system, my pro career finally within reach. My mouth opens on its own and I look the men straight in the eyes.

  "I have to go to the bathroom," I say and stand up from my seat, desperate to get out of there. My father is in the difficult position of trying to maintain that everything is fine while at the same time urging me to get my head on straight. He's too composed to catch me as I storm out of the room like I'm on fire. I make it quite a bit down the hallway when I hear the hotel room door open again and my father whisper-shouting after me.

  "Beau...Beau! Stop right there," he demands. Giving him the respect he demands I stop and wait for him, my lips pressed together ready to defend my decision. "What the hell is the matter with you? Do not blow this!"

  I look at my father to beg him to remember the lessons he taught me so long ago. "Did you hear what they asked me?"

  "Yeah," he says before fully thinking it over. "What's the problem?"

  "They asked if I'm loyal," I explain and he doesn't understand. The smartest man I know is stumped by something so plainly obvious. "I want to be telling them the truth when I say yes."

  When I turn to leave I can feel the anger radiating off of his body. I'm quite a few feet away from him when he calls out again. "Don't you leave! Don't you blow this! You're ruining your future!"

  He's still yelling as I storm down the steps to the first floor, heading to the parking lot. Luckily my uniform is waiting for me in my truck and if I rush, I can get to the field in time.

  *****

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Quinn

  *****

  One foot in the door of the classroom and I already feel like I'm being smothered. Something about this room prevents any air from circulating, the only cross-breeze coming from the whir of laptops positioned throughout the room. I'll forever associate certain equations with the feeling of sweat rolling down my forehead.

  Though I wouldn't say I've made friends with many people in the class, there is a level of camaraderie among us upon reaching the end of this hard course. Discussion of grades never happens but I do get a sense from a few of them that this test weighs just as heavily on them as it does me. There's the nerdy / cute Josie who always seems ready for every test, looking tense as she twists in her seat. Mitchell is sitting next to her, trying to go over as many random problems as he can before the test is given out. I sit down right behind the two of them, hoping if I go down, we go down together.

  "We are almost done," I state the obvious and receive polite smiles back. "You guys doing anything after the test to celebrate?"

  Mitchell looks confused and Josie's eyes almost pop out of her head.

  "Celebrate?" Mitchell asks. "How can we celebrate when we don't know our grades?"

  "As soon as I'm done, I have an interview for an internship," Josie says.

  It's clear I have to risk coming off as way too casual in an effort to prove that they need to relax.

  "You g
uys need to take some time for yourselves or else you'll go crazy," I insist and wait for them to agree with me. They don't.

  "Relax?" Mitchell asks. "I'll relax when my house is paid off and I guess my kids' college is paid for. I figure I'll be able to retire around seventy and then, that's when I'll sit on the beach all day."

  Josie squirms in her seat. "How can you relax? Do you have a job set up yet? Do you even know what the job market is like for new grads?"

  My blase attitude has come off as flippant and now these two think I'm stupid.

  "What about hobbies? Do you guys do anything else but math?"

  I'm not sure why they are willing to entertain my questions but I think these two haven't encountered someone like me in a long time. I'm fascinating to them.

  "I used to dance when I was like, a kid," Josie says. "Then school and work happened and there's no time."