"I know you brought food," Whitney said when she peered over the top of her seat an hour into the trip. "Where is it?"
Dashtin shrugged. "I must have forgot, damn."
Graham laughed as Dashtin opened a package of M&M's and gave her a handful.
Whitney's head popped back up in time to snatch the package. She and Vanessa shared the rest of them. Dashtin pulled another bag out of her pocket and smiled at Graham who was watching a movie on her phone.
"How many hours do we have left?" Dashtin joked.
"Five, now shut up or go sit somewhere else," Graham chided. She was watching a movie about a handful of scientists trying to find a cure to a disease that was secretly killing people all over the world.
"Well, excuse me." Dashtin got up and moved a few rows up to sit with some other teammates. They were playing a game on their phones with Vanessa and Whitney.
"What are you watching?" Bailey leaned over and asked Graham.
Graham pulled her headphones from her ear. "A movie about biological warfare."
Bailey got up and sat down in Dashtin's vacant seat. She held her hand out for one of the ear phones and Graham gave it to her. Graham moved her phone sitting on the tray table in front of her so Bailey could see the movie too.
Three hours later Dashtin was surprised when she walked back to her seat. Bailey was in her seat asleep with her head on Graham's shoulder. Graham was asleep with her head against Bailey's.
"What the hell?" she said.
"They passed out a while ago. Must've been a shitty movie," Whitney said. "Aren't they cute?"
"No they're not," she growled.
"Jealous?" Whitney teased.
"No, I'm not jealous. Bailey has a girlfriend and she's still trying to get in Graham's pants. Graham's too good to get hurt by her and I'm not going to let it happen."
"Oh Dash, leave them alone. Graham's not going to hook-up with a freshman anyway. She's smarter than that. I have noticed Helena making goo-goo eyes at her though," Whitney said.
"Yeah, Graham's turned her down half a dozen times but she keeps coming back," Dashtin said.
"That's a little creepy," Vanessa said.
"I think it's funny."
"You would," Whitney said. "Go get in your seat and take a nap. We still have an hour and a half."
"Half-pint's in my seat passed out on my best friend in case you forgot."
"Go sit with Helena," Whitney laughed.
Dashtin rolled her eyes and walked back to the seat she was using earlier in the middle of the bus.
Graham awoke when the bus came to a stop at the hotel. The warm body next to her stirred and she looked at the dark head of hair on her shoulder. Bailey sat up and stretched as she turned her head in Graham's direction.
"I guess I missed the end of the movie," she said shyly.
"Yeah, me too," Graham said.
Bailey handed the earphone she'd been wearing to Graham and moved back to her seat to gather her things.
"It's about time you woke up, sleeping beauty," Dashtin said to Graham.
"I didn't even know I fell asleep. Why didn't you wake me?"
"I wanted to but you and Bailey were so cute all cuddled together," she said sarcastically.
Graham laughed. "Oh, she's just a kid. I think you're mad it wasn't you all cuddled with me," she teased.
"You're damn right. I had to listen to Katie snore most of the way!"
"I didn't tell you to get up, did I? That was your own fault. Now, come on I'm ready to get off this damn bus," Graham said.
~
After everyone got settled into their rooms the team ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and loaded the bus once again to head over to the field for their early evening game. Dashtin sat next to Graham in their original bus seats.
"I still don't understand why Coach Parker is making you room with Bailey. She's should be with Claudia, they're both freshmen," Dashtin said.
"I wasn't expecting it and don't exactly care for the arrangement either, but I'm not going to argue," Graham said. "It's better than rooming with Helena."
"I'd room with her."
"You'd room with anyone with tits and ass," Graham said.
"Ha-ha."
"Who are you rooming with?" Graham asked.
"Whitney. Apparently, she and Vanessa got split up too. Vanessa is with Claudia for some kind of mentoring thing or something. I think the coaches have lost their minds."
"Well, at least I know she won't sleep with you. She said once was enough."
Dashtin laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not interested anyway."
Graham shook her head and put her headphones on. She liked to listen to music on her playlist before their games. Dashtin watched her as she bobbed her head to the beat and took one of her ear phones out and put it in her own ear. They were both head bobbing and singing along by the time the bus pulled into the parking lot at the ball field.
~
The game started slow for the Pioneers. Most of the team was tired and had bus lag from the six hour drive. In the bottom of the third they were down one to zero. Graham squatted at the plate and gave the signal for a rise ball. Bailey flinched when the ball came off her hand she knew it was going to be bad. The ball began rising too early and by the time it crossed the plate Graham had to stand up and jump to catch it causing her to fall backwards knocking the wind out of her. When she didn't immediately get up the umpire stopped the game and Coach Walker and Helena ran to her.
"I'm okay," Graham said sitting up.
"Take it easy," Helena said. She was bent down next to Graham with her hand on her back. Coach Walker was on her other side.
"You knocked your wind out. Take a few deep breaths."
Dashtin and Bailey both ran in to check on their catcher and team captain.
"She's fine. She lost her breath when she fell," Coach Walker said.
"Yeah, no thanks to you," Dashtin said to Bailey.
"The ball slipped," Bailey said. "It was an accident."
"Every other pitch from you is an 'accident'."
"Alright, both of you go back to your positions and stay there!" Coach Walker yelled.
Graham stood up on her own and stretched her back out. "I'm good, coach."
Coach Walker patted her shoulder and went back to the dugout with Helena.
They managed to get out of the inning but not before the other team scored again after another wild pitch that Graham had to dive for that advanced the base runner from first to third. The next batter brought her home with an RBI.
The next two innings went the same way with wild pitches at the plate and infielders missing ground balls. The Pioneers were down three to zero going into the seventh. Whitney struck out and Vanessa hit a double. Graham hit a ground ball that the shortstop missed allowing her to take first base and advancing Vanessa to third. Claudia came up to the plate with the potential tying run. She hit a pop-up that nearly cleared the fence. The centerfielder dove and missed the ball. Vanessa ran home, Graham crossed the plate behind her, and Claudia was stopped at third. The next batter struck out easily.
Down by one with two outs, Katie the sophomore outfielder stepped up to the plate. She wasn't the strongest hitter on the team, but her ground balls were fierce. The other team called for a pitcher change which turned out to be a huge mistake. The very first pitch the new pitcher threw went right down the middle instead of curving. Katie swung the bat connecting with the ball and pushing it all the way to the left field fence. Since she wasn't a huge hitter everyone on the other team was playing inside. No one anticipated the fly ball.
By the time one of the outfielders finally reached the ball and fielded it Claudia had crossed home plate and Katie was running for home. The other team's catcher jumped in front of Katie with the ball coming to her in the air. Katie dove to the ground sliding around the catcher. Her hand grazed the plate just as the catcher was catching the ball with no time to reach down and tag her.
The entire Pioneer team ran
from the dugout shouting and cheering. The coaches pulled the team back together. The inning wasn't over. Bailey batted next. She wasn't the best batter, but she was a fast base runner. The first pitch to her was a strike followed by another strike. On the third pitch Bailey got nervous and swung. She hit a pop-up that the second base player easily caught for the third out.
The Pioneers took the field once again for the last time. Bailey struck out the first batter and walked the second with crazy pitches. The third batter came up and hit a ground ball past the third base player allowing two runners on base. The next batter hit a foul ball down the line and the third base player dove to catch it. They had one out to go and the miserable game would be over.
Graham called for a drop ball and regretted it as soon as it left Bailey's hand. The ball was coming in too low. The slap-hitter smacked the low ball down into the dirt causing Graham to have to scramble for it. She was able to throw it to first base, but not before the runner cleared the bag. Graham shook her head and squatted back down behind the plate.
The next batter swung at a screw ball for a strike before hitting three fouls in a row. Bailey's nerves took over with the zero to two count causing her to throw two balls out of the strike zone bumping the count to two and two. Bailey set-up and released her next pitch. The ball looked like it was going to cross the center of the plate before curving wickedly to the left. The batter swung and the ball went right around the top of the bat as it curved. Graham jumped into the air and the rest of the team quickly met her at the plate cheering and jumping up and down. They'd won the game by the skin of their teeth and were thankful the game was finally over.
Chapter 10
Once the post game celebration and courtesy hand slapping with the other team was over they began loading their equipment on the bus.
"What a mess," Whitney said.
"Yeah, no kidding. At least we won," Dashtin said as they boarded the bus.
"Don't get comfortable, ladies." Coach Walker was standing in the middle of the aisle as the bus began to pull away. "That was by far the worst game I've ever seen. I honestly have no idea how we won and that's not a win in my book. I don't know if you were all tired or ate too much dinner or just plain didn't give a shit whether we won or lost! Every single player on this team played sloppy. Bailey, you can't throw the ball all over the place and expect Graham to catch it every time. You have to work on ball control. Whitney and Dashtin your uniforms are way too clean. It's no wonder with all of the groundballs that you neglected to dive for. I could go on and on all night. We looked like a monkey screwing a football out there and it will not happen again."
The bus pulled into the hotel parking lot and rolled to a stop. No one budged. All eyes were on Coach Walker.
"You all need to think long and hard about the way you've been playing and make a decision. Do you want to be on this team or not? If you do then you need to take that field every game with everything you have including Pioneer pride! Now, go get some sleep. We have a team meeting in the conference room after breakfast and then we're going over to a local high school for practice," she said before walking off the bus.
"Man she's pissed," Dashtin said.
"No kidding," Whitney said.
"Do you blame her? We all played like shit. I don't know how we keep winning these games," Graham said.
"It didn't help that you knocked yourself out chasing down another crazy pitch," Dashtin said loud enough for Bailey to hear. "You have every right to be pissed too."
"I am pissed! Do you think I like jumping and diving like an idiot for ball after ball? My entire body hurts! But, the whole team is to blame for the way we played today," Graham said.
Whitney and Graham walked into the elevator followed by Vanessa. The door closed before Bailey could catch it and none of them bothered to hold it for her.
"I want my own room," Graham said when the doors opened again at their floor.
Whitney laughed. "Me too, but hey we can't have everything we want," she said bumping shoulders with Dashtin. "At least you don't snore."
"Should I be worried about you two sharing a room?" Graham raised an eyebrow.
"Room is the keyword, Graham. Room not bed and trust me that's all we're sharing," Whitney said stopping at the door to their room. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is probably going to be hell."
"Should I be worried about you?" Dashtin asked when Graham walked past her.
"Oh please, that's the last thing in the world that will ever happen. I guarantee it," Graham said walking down to her room on the opposite side of the hall a few doors down.
~
"Thanks for holding the elevator," Bailey said through gritted teeth when she walked into the room.
Graham was on the other side of the two double-beds sitting in a chair staring out the window. She was still in her uniform minus her cleats and socks with her jersey pulled loose from her pants. The first few buttons were undone revealing the top of her chest and part of her black sports bra.
"It was an accident," Graham said sarcastically using the same term Bailey had used on the field. She stood up and walked close enough to touch Bailey as she passed by her on her way to the shower.
Graham stood under the hot water willing her tense muscles to relax. She shampooed her hair and lathered her body with soap before quickly rinsing the dirt and grime of the horrible game down the drain. She put a robe on and towel-dried her short hair before finally dressing in a t-shirt and shorts. She noticed Bailey sitting in the same chair by the window when she opened the bathroom door.
Bailey stood up and walked past her to the bathroom without saying a word. Graham turned the TV on and tossed the comforter from her bed to the floor before sitting on the bed. Her freshman year she took samples from every hotel she stayed in during the softball season and tested them all in a lab for her final exam project. The amount of biological matter detected disgusted her and she swore she'd never use a hotel comforter again.
She was flipping channels on the TV when she heard the shower stop. Seconds later the blow dryer started and ran for a few minutes before it stopped. Bailey emerged freshly scrubbed wearing a thin t-shirt and the smallest pair of shorts Graham had ever seen. She brushed her hair over her shoulder where it fell in loose waves. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Graham when she noticed the comforter on the floor.
Graham turned her head back to the TV and continued to channel surf.
"Are you going to ignore me all night?" Bailey huffed.
"There's nothing to say."
"I have plenty to say," Bailey growled. "First of all, I'm not the only one to blame. I seem to recall you missing a few balls all on your own that were in the zone. Second, I've about had it with your girlfriend getting in my face. She's needs to mind her own business."
Graham stood up and threw the remote on her bed. She was tired and frustrated and Bailey's anger only fueled the fire burning deep inside her.
"You're damn right I missed a few catches." Graham yelled walking closer to her. "You try catching balls flying in all directions especially after being dropped on your ass so hard you couldn't breathe. Don't even start on me when that is all your fault."
"I said I didn't mean to throw that ball the way I did. It came off my hand wrong. I don't need it thrown back in my face over and over. Do you even realize how it made me feel when I saw you lying on the ground not moving? It scared me to death, Graham. So, don't go acting like it was nothing to me. I'm trying to carry this damn team on my back and that's difficult enough for anyone to do let alone a freshman. I'm sorry I let the nerves get to me," Bailey growled stepping close enough to smell the soap Graham washed with. "I don't need the entire team riding my ass. The coaches are doing a great job on their own."
"Then you need to trust me when I call pitches and trust the rest of your team to field the ball if it gets hit. Most of all, you need to stop calling Dashtin my girlfriend, that's starting to really piss me off. She's my best friend and has every right to say so
mething when I get hurt. Besides, you're the one with a girlfriend all over you, not me." Graham snarled.
"That's where you're wrong. Not that it's any of your business but Alex and I aren't together. She wants me."
"What do you want?"
"You, Graham. I want you," Bailey said.
Graham bent her head pressing her lips to Bailey's slowly at first. She ran her tongue around the edge of her mouth. As the kiss deepened she put her hands on Bailey's waist and pushed her back against the wall holding her there with her body tightly against Bailey's as she grabbed her hands holding them just above her head on the wall.
She sucked Bailey's tongue between her lips and Bailey's hips moved against her in response. Graham let go of Bailey's hands and pushed the thin t-shirt up revealing Bailey's naturally tan, lithe body and perky round breasts with dark nipples. She moved her mouth to Bailey's neck running her lips from her collar to her ear as her hands slid over silky smooth skin and up to caress her breasts.
Bailey moaned when Graham lowered her head to her breasts licking and sucking back and forth. She tangled her hands in Graham's short hair pulling her up for another searing kiss. Graham pulled back long enough to remove Bailey's wadded up t-shirt tossing it behind her on the floor before kissing her again breathlessly. Her leg slipped between Bailey's thighs. She felt the wetness coat her leg as Bailey moved against her riding up and down.
Graham reached down with both hands cupping Bailey's firm butt picking her up. Bailey wrapped her legs around Graham's waist as she carried her over to her bed. Graham laid Bailey on her back and pull her own shirt off before crawling on top of her. Their skin burned as their breasts and stomachs molded together as she slid up Bailey's body.
Bailey locked her legs around Graham and rolled her over so that she was on top. She sat up straddling Graham's hips and grabbed her hands placing them on her breasts. Graham squeezed softly flicking the hard nipples with her thumbs before moving her hands lower. Bailey's skin was so warm and silky smooth, like nothing she'd ever felt before.
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