The focus of her attentions was one particular player. This woman, significantly taller and more substantially built than most of the others, caught and held Jamie's focus completely.
The team was wearing shorts for the first time that season, and Jamie marveled at the expanse of leg that was revealed by Ryan's dark blue pants. The shorts covered some of the other players nearly to the knee, but Ryan's exposed more than a foot of tanned thigh, much to Jamie's approval. She had been a little worried when Ryan revealed that they sometimes wore shorts, thinking that her partner would be a mass of scrapes and scratches by the end of a game. Much to her pleasure, everyone wore long white socks topped by navy blue kneepads, which Jamie was certain would protect Ryan's lovely long legs.
The players assembled in a large circle and began to toss the ball around lazily, just letting their arms get warm. Even though they were stretching, the more important activity seemed to be chatting, and Jamie noted that every player was involved. It seemed more like a sewing circle than a group of athletes preparing for a contest, but Jamie was enormously pleased that Ryan was able to share her sport with such a nice group of women.
One of the things Jamie really liked was that the coaches let the players warm up at their own pace. They remained on the bench, idly commenting about things they observed, but not closely supervising the women. After Ryan's unpleasant month with the basketball team, she knew that her partner greatly appreciated the fact that the coaches treated the athletes like sentient beings.
When everyone was warm, the outfielders got to work near the left field fence. Even though Ryan had only played first base in games, she was the primary replacement for all of the three outfield positions, so she stayed with the starting fielders to work on the long throw.
Surprisingly, the four women began to toss a football back and forth, and after a relatively short time, they stood at least fifty yards from each other and tossed the ball lazily, continuing to loosen up their arms for the more stressful long throws.
Jamie could see the trajectory of the throws getting progressively lower, and she heard a bit more pop when the ball was caught. By the time the fielders were throwing tight spirals, they switched to softballs and started to throw the balls in to the catcher. They had about fifty balls in a big bag, and by the time they had fired them all in, they came in for fielding practice.
"She's coming in," Jennie said, elbowing Jamie. "She's gonna be so surprised!"
"She sure is," Jamie said, gulping as she spoke. She was worried that Ryan would cry when she saw her, and she knew nothing was worse for her partner than crying in front of her teammates. Fortunately, Ryan spied them before she hit the infield. Jamie saw her flinch, then Ryan ran back to the outfield fence and did a few sprints, running from the second base bag to the fence and back-obviously just to collect herself.
When the lanky woman was composed, she ran by the dugout, nodding towards Jamie and Jennie. "Isn't there a rule against groupies?" she asked the coach.
"You wouldn't hear me bitchin' if a pair of good looking girls followed me around," Coach said, chuckling.
"Be sure to let us know the first time that happens," Ryan said. She traded her outfielder's glove for her first baseman's mitt and ran to catch up to the start of infield and batting practice.
"Isn't she glad to see us?" Jennie asked.
"She's thrilled," Jamie said. "Trust me."
Organized chaos reigned during the next fifteen minutes. Everyone got to take ten pitches, then the starters had another round. The players not batting were far from idle. Ryan was on first, working with the back-up shortstop and second baseman on fielding quickly thrown grounders; another knot of women stood in the outfield waiting for batted balls; and a third group of pitchers went to the bullpen to warm up.
Heather spotted Jamie and Jennie and ran over to say hello. "I didn't know you guys were coming," she said, smiling at them both.
"We just decided today," Jennie said. "I got to skip school!"
"Cool," Heather said. "I gotta go warm up." With that, she dashed over to the bullpen and started to work with the other pitchers.
Once batting practice was finished, the starting infielders took the field, with Coach Roberts hitting sharp grounders to all spots, really making them hustle to reach them. Since Ryan wasn't a starter, she went out to the edge of the field and ran sprints. She was out there as long as fielding practice lasted, and when they called all of the players in, she was sweating freely.
Coach called them all together for some last minute tips, then the team lined up along the baseline for the playing of the national anthem. Ryan ran over to the dugout and tugged Jamie and Jennie along with her, and the smaller woman couldn't help sneaking an admiring look up at her partner-singing at full voice, with her cap held over her heart.
The weather forecast called for rain the entire weekend, and by the third inning it became clear that they'd be lucky to get the game in. Very dark clouds were gathering, and a few scattered droplets of rain started to fall. Ryan seemed oblivious to the weather, however. Her attention was fully engaged by watching the pitcher and the catcher, and seeing how the fielders positioned themselves for the various batters.
She barely spoke when her team was at bat, unless someone was on base. Then the entire team joined together to repeat some form of cheer or chant that had them all laughing. Even though she was mostly silent, between innings she was quite voluble, chattering on like she hadn't been quiet for the previous ten minutes. "You know what I like best about softball?" she asked Jamie during one such break.
"Nope. Don't have a clue."
"It's the only collegiate sport in which you can eat during the whole thing." She laughed. "That's epic."
Jamie looked down at the pile of spent sunflower seeds under her lover's feet. "At least I know why you always smell like nuts after a game. Why do you do that, anyway?"
"Do what?"
"Spit the seeds out that way. It looks like you're chewing tobacco."
The look on Jamie's face did not give the impression that she approved of the practice, but Ryan just grinned at her. "It's a great tension reliever," she said. "I've gotta have some way to vent."
Jamie waited for the punch line, but she soon realized that Ryan was serious. Even though she rarely played, she was perched on the edge of the bench like she was waiting for the fire bell, and when she wasn't tapping her cleated feet against the concrete, she was spitting sunflower shells onto the ground. Try as she might, the smaller woman couldn't understand why her partner was so agitated. Watching softball was akin to watching grass grow for Jamie, unless, of course, Ryan was playing.
Suddenly, realization dawned on her. Ryan felt just like Jamie did, but instead of being interested in one player, she was interested in all of them. She growled in sympathy at every strikeout, moaned when a player was badly fooled by a pitch, and grunted in frustration at every hit the opposing team made. In short, she cared deeply for her team and her teammates.
Reaching over, Jamie gave her partner's bare thigh a squeeze. "I'm glad you have this, sweetie. This is the right sport for you-even though it takes you away from me too often."
Heather sat on the far end of the bench with the other pitchers. Jennie was more than a little disappointed that one of her favorite players wasn't sitting with them, and she leaned over and spoke to Jamie the first time Ryan's attention was elsewhere. "Why's Heather ignoring us?"
Jamie winced, knowing that Heather liked Jennie as a person, but as a very young person. She thought of how she'd felt when a girl from her neighborhood started to ignore her the minute the older girl had entered high school, and tried to think of a way to save Jennie's feelings. "Oh, it's a jock thing, Jen. Hanging out and looking cool is all part of the image."
The younger girl nodded towards Ryan. "Ryan's not doing that."
"Oh, that's a girlfriend thing," Jamie said, smiling. "Being a girlfriend takes precedence over everything else."
Ryan heard her and no
dded to Jen. "She's a wise woman, Jennie. Listen to her."
The rains finally arrived, and after struggling through the last two innings, the coaches got together and decided to call the second game of the doubleheader. The weather report said that lightning had been spotted in Buena Park, so rather than risk any lives, the thoroughly drenched crew headed back to the hotel.
After an early dinner, the team voted to take in a movie. When Jamie learned that their choice was Scary Movie, she elected to pass.
Ryan nodded. "Okay, we'll just stay in."
"No, you should go," Jamie insisted. "You like that kinda movie, and I know you want to hang around with your pals. Besides, I need to work on my article, and I'll be more productive without you around."
"Gee, thanks," Ryan said, feigning hurt.
"You know I love to have you with me," Jamie assured her, "but I really do have to work on this. You've a very distracting presence, you know."
"I have my moments," Ryan agreed. "Okay, Jen and I'll go out and play. Work hard, babe."
Jamie watched her walk through the lobby, one arm draped around Jennie's shoulders, already joking and teasing with her friends. I can't imagine a better antidote to the poisonous atmosphere of that basketball team. I'm just so happy she's gonna finish out her career with this group.
Ryan was still chuckling when she returned to the room a few hours later. "You missed a funny one," she said, crossing the room to place a kiss on Jamie's head. "How's it going?"
"Fine. I still have a couple of hours of work to do. It's going well, though."
"Does that mean, 'Be quiet?'"
Jamie bit her lip and nodded.
"Have at it," Ryan urged. "It's only ten o'clock." She picked up her room key. "I'll be down at Jackie's. Room 212. We're gonna play cards."
"Don't rob them blind," Jamie called after her. "They're your teammates, not your cousins."
An hour later, Jamie knocked on Jackie's door and heard a muffled, "It's open." She went in to find most of the team sitting on the floor playing poker or sprawled across the beds watching the game. Jennie was sitting on a pillow, obviously trying to learn the game by watching the others. Lupe was sitting directly in front of Ryan, holding her cards so that the significantly larger woman could see them. Ryan leaned over slightly and whispered into her ear, then Lupe nodded once and discarded one card and asked for another. Jamie walked over behind her partner, and Ryan leaned back against her shins. "Nice backrest." She grinned up at her.
"What are you two doing?" Jamie asked.
"Lupe's never played before, so we're playing together. I'm sure I'll regret telling her my secrets later in the year when she starts kicking my ass," she said, laughing.
The diminutive woman slapped at Ryan's thigh with her cards. "That'll take many years of instruction," she said, "and you're graduating this year."
"Not if I keep skipping class to go watch Jamie play golf," Ryan predicted. "Oops … it's our turn, Lupe." She leaned over again and whispered something, then Lupe called, forcing the remaining players to show their hands. She won the hand with two pair, and she was beaming when she slapped excitedly at the long legs that surrounded her.
"We won!" she cried. "Let's play again!"
"That's the devil talking, Lupe. Let's quit while we're ahead." She extricated herself from her place and took Jamie's hand. "We leave for the field at 9:00, guys, and coach wants us to meet for breakfast no later than 8:00. Time for bed. You too, Jen."
With very little grumbling, the game broke up and everyone headed back to their rooms. Jennie was taking Ryan's spot with Jackie, so she was already in the right place. Lupe gave Ryan a hug, her arms barely able to encircle the large woman. "Thanks, Ryan. That was fun."
"Any time," she grinned. "We can team up whenever you want."
Heading back to their room, Jamie asked, "So, how much did you win?"
"Oh, we don't play for money-just bragging rights." They reached their room, and Ryan started to strip before she had walked two steps.
"I'm still in the mood to write. If I'm up really late, I'll sleep in and take a cab over to your game."
"I was going to suggest you do that anyway," Ryan said. "It hasn't stopped raining, and it doesn't look like it's going to. There's no sense in your sitting over there in the rain."
"It's a deal. Now brush all of your cute little teeth and hop into bed. You're barely going to get your eight hours tonight."
"You know," Ryan said, putting her arms around Jamie and letting her hands rest low on her hips. "You could skip the game entirely and work."
Jamie looked up and her and saw the spark of lust in her clear blue eyes. "What are you suggesting, slugger?"
"Well … if you don't have to do anything tomorrow, you could go to bed right now. We could …" She squeezed Jamie's ass as she bent to kiss her. "Think of something to do to relax."
"That's the voice of the devil," Jamie said, wrinkling up her nose. "You know I'd love to, but I'm really in the mood to work. Besides, since Jennie is with me, I've got to hang with her."
Ryan let her lower lip stick out in a pout. "You do still like to …" she inclined her head toward the bed, "don't you?"
Slapping her hard on the bare butt, Jamie said, "You've got a lot of nerve to even ask me that!"
"Just checking," Ryan said. "It's been a while, you know."
"Almost a week," Jamie said. "I keep track, too."
"Okay, okay." The taller woman went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. When she came out, Jamie was sitting on an upholstered chair, reading some of her research materials. Ryan stuck out her hands, then slapped them against her chest. "Last chance," she said, turning slowly. She twitched her ass as she turned, then smiled impishly at Jamie. "Sure you wanna pass this up?"
"No, I don't," Jamie said. "But I have to."
"Fine," Ryan said, feigning hurt. "Kiss me when you come to bed."
"With gusto," Jamie said, grinning wickedly.
At 2:00 a.m., Jamie was in good shape. She had a little more polishing to do, but she knew she could get that done in the next two days. She was too tired to write any more, but too wired to sleep, thanks to the Diet Coke she'd been drinking all night. Nonetheless, she brushed her teeth and got into bed, snuggling up against her partner.
Ryan woke partially, patting her arm and mumbling, "Go sleep."
Now she wants to sleep, Jamie groused. I'm wide awake in a motel room in Fullerton, with nothing to do and no one to play with. I wonder if they have a gym here? No … I can't leave the room. She'd freak out if she woke up.
She lay there quietly, thinking that just being near Ryan would calm her down, but the opposite seemed to happen. Ryan's smooth, steady breathing made her more aware of her own alertness, and soon it began to irritate her. Great. Now I'm mad at her.
Jamie got out of bed and went to her suitcase to look for something to read, but all she'd brought were things related to her article, and she'd had enough of that. She lay down on the other bed, her head at the foot, and turned on the TV, lying so close she could have the volume at a whisper. She channel surfed for a while, then lit on Cinemax After Dark, a series of very soft-core porn movies made for people who couldn't or wouldn't buy the real thing. She and Ryan had on a few occasions laughed at the ineptitude of the stories, and at the surreal attributes of the women, but she lingered longer than usual this time. Still, she found that the silicone-pumped blondes didn't do a thing for her. The loveliest woman she'd ever known was lying in the next bed, and her thoughts turned to her partner's magnificent attributes, some of which were totally visible.
Jamie rolled over onto her side and gazed at her lovely partner, sleep rendering her more beautiful than usual. Her lips were slightly parted, and a thick lock of hair partially covered her eyes. Sitting up, Jamie pulled a pair of pillows down and slipped them under her head. Concentrating, she stared at Ryan, feeling her libido spark to life. She thought about waking her partner, but realized how utterly selfish that was. Even tho
ugh she knew Ryan would be happy to participate, it still felt a little exploitive to wake her from a sound sleep.
Her temperature was rising, and watching Ryan's breasts rise and fall wasn't cooling things down. Jamie lifted one knee and started to touch herself, feeling just a little guilty. She knew that she had nothing to be ashamed of, but she and Ryan had had so few opportunities lately that she felt like she was wasting one of them.
Reminding herself that Ryan wasn't lying there wanting sex, she continued to stroke herself, getting into the experience more than she thought she would. She couldn't remember the last time she'd masturbated, but she guessed that it had been before she and Ryan had made love for the first time. So, this is how it is after a year, she thought to herself. Masturbating in a cheap motel while you watch your partner sleep. I guess the honeymoon is officially over!
Ryan woke with the sun the next morning, but it took her a few moments to get her bearings. The TV was on, and Jamie wasn't in bed with her. Blinking, she saw that her partner was lying in the wrong direction on the bed next to hers, and that the TV was on very low. She didn't have a clue what had gone on the night before, but she was very glad that she'd been able to sleep. I guess I don't need to sleep with her, she thought. I just need her in the room. That's progress.
Struggling against the heavy hand of sleep, Jamie forced one eye open at a sharp noise, expecting to find the maid trying to make up the room. Both eyes opened when she saw that her partner had returned, looking a bit like a drowned rat. "We got rained out," she said with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Yawning, Jamie mumbled, "And that's good, why?"
Ryan jumped onto the bed, her wet clothing soaking through the sheet in moments. "We're going to Disneyland!"
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