"The minute I waved at that curveball like a damn fool, I wanted to tackle you behind the pitcher’s mound right then and there."
"You’re kidding," I gasped.
"I couldn’t stop looking at you. I still can’t."
"Yeah, I’m filthy and I still have eyeblack on."
"And you have grass stains on your butt."
"Oh, shit, do I?" I laughed. "That’s what I get for getting nailed in right field, huh? Anyhow, I’m filthy with eyeblack and sweat and grass stains. And you can’t stop looking at me."
"You’re beautiful," he said.
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. This was my fucking dream guy.
I needed to say something. I needed to find out exactly what went on here. I didn’t know how to say it. I sat up, and grabbed my knees, thinking.
"Anything wrong, Lily?" he asked.
"No," I sighed. "Just a little-I don’t know. Look, I’m not philosophically opposed to one-night stands, but I don’t make a habit of them."
"Is that what this was?" he asked tentatively.
"I don’t know. Was it?"
"Is that what you want it to be?"
I smiled at him, and admitted it. "No."
"Good," he said immediately, with a giggle. "Hallelujah. Then it wasn’t." He beamed at me, and then said it. "Will you go out with me?"
"Yes!"
"Good!"
I looked at him and said, "Boy, I really like you."
"The feeling’s mutual, Pedro," he said. And kissed me on the nose.
"I must admit, though, it will be a very new experience going out with my catcher!"
CHAPTER FOURTEEN MIKEOk, I’ve played baseball a long time. I’ve taken showers with teammates before.
I’ve never taken a shower with a teammate who was asking me to help wash her boobs. And assorted other naughty bits. But that’s exactly what we did. The team was gone, we were alone, so it was fine. Of course, we had been taking showers in the opposite-sex locker room because of The Program, anyway. But there wasn’t much mutual washing going on in there.
After that unbelievable, incredible experience out in right field, we both decided we were ravenous. I suggested the Burger Hut, and she said, "Grease! That’s perfect!" But we needed to clean up. Even if we decided to get dressed, all Lily had with her was what she had worn-and discarded-before school. A pair of short shorts that would’ve clearly showed the grass stains on her upper thighs. I suggested that might be kind of cool. She hit me. Well, she giggled while doing it.
Anyhow, we cleaned up, did decide to throw some clothes on-there was a bit of a cool breeze and we had been quite naked all day-and got in her car to go to the Burger Hut. When we got out of the car, she came over to me and grabbed my hand.
You know what? Having her grab my hand felt just fine.
Well, we walked in, and were confronted by half the baseball team-and every eye was on us. And she didn’t drop my hand. We walked up to the counter, ordered our, as she called it, "high-quality grease," grabbed our order, and looked around.
There, from a table in the corner, we were being waved to. It was Eddie, plus Frankie Gutierrez, and our big first baseman, Ty Christopher. I looked at Lily, she smiled and nodded.
"Hey," Eddie said. We introduced Lily to Frankie and Ty. "Welcome to the team," Ty said. "You were great."
"Where have you guys been, anyhow?" Eddie asked.
I tried to come up with an answer to that one, when Lily said, impishly, "Christening right field, mostly."
Eddie looked at us blankly. Then it dawned on him. "Waitaminnit," he said. "You…and her?"
"Me and her," I confirmed. "In right field."
"Which I think they’re now going to have to squeegee," Lily joked. "We should’ve laid down the tarp."
"Then you would’ve had tarp burns instead of grass stains on your ass," I told her.
"Hmm. There is that."
"OK, let me get this straight," Frankie butt in. "You two did the nasty in right field, huh? Well, that’s an interesting way to celebrate making the team." We all howled at that. "I should try that."
"For that, Gutierrez, you need a chick," Ty told him. "Which leaves you right out."
"Hmm," Frankie thought, then looked at us. "Tell me, was this a quick bang for the hell of it, or are you two together?"
"We’re together," Lily confirmed before I had a chance to. I just nodded in agreement.
"That’s awesome!" Eddie enthused.
"Yeah, it is," Frankie agreed. "However, that leaves the rest of us right out of luck for the celebratory boink. What this baseball team needs is a community-property chick."
"You have some," Lily said in between bites of her greaseburger. "They’re called cheerleaders." The four of us just stared at her, then we howled. "Hey, if this school is anything like my old one, all the cheerleaders put out. The guys in my locker room used to keep a tally."
"Amanda Frazier doesn’t," Frankie said.
"Amanda Frazier did at one point, for about a week," Eddie countered, "and she still does, but only rarely, and only with a very small list of people. And only with Jared’s permission."
"This sounds like a story," Lily said.
It was, and Eddie and I told it to her.
"That’s pretty incredible. And they’re still in love with each other?" Lily asked.
"Totally. Head over the moon," Eddie said. "They’ve calmed down a lot since that first week-Amanda hasn’t done anything like that gangbang since that one time. Here and there, now, that’s it. Amanda took me to bed three weeks ago-I was horny as hell, it had been a while, and she knew it. Jared was at his house doing Maggie at the time. But there’s a lot less of that. They plan to be together when they’re old and grey-and, this way, there’s no what ifs, no wild oats left unsowed."
"That’s cool, that they can make it work. Don’t think I could do it," Lily said.
Much to my relief. "I couldn’t either," I said. She flashed me a thank-goodness smile.
"Then again," she said, "it’s easier for me to say that than it would’ve been for Amanda at the time. I sowed all my wild oats in Boston."
"I laid down a few acres myself freshman and sophomore years," I told her.
"Good. Hey, I’ve never been gangbanged-and, honestly, I don’t think it’s something I’m missing out on personally. But I’ve done enough. I have evolved into a one-guy girl."
"Sounds good to me," I grinned.
"So, I got to know this," Frankie asked. "How’s a girl get so interested in baseball? Not that I mind, mind you. I think it’s great."
"You think it’s great that a girl throws 20 miles an hour harder than you do?" Ty teased.
"Yeah, but can she make the ball whistle ‘Singing In The Rain’ on the way to the plate?" Frankie retorted.
"Frankie, I might be able to teach you some tricks to help you increase your velocity." Lily said. "I don’t think you’ll pitch 90-you can either do that, or you can’t-but I can check out your mechanics. I know a few tricks."
"I don’t think I have your arm," Frankie admitted.
"It’s less arm than you think it is," she told him. "Look, I have a major disadvantage-I’m female." She explained to them what she had explained to me the other day about trying to pitch with a female body. "So I do more with mechanics than you realize. Frankie, I think I could throw a few things at you."
"That’d be great," he said.
"But, in return," she grinned, "you have to teach me the knuckleball."
"Oh, wouldn’t that be something!" Frankie said. "Can you imagine her coming with that heater, and then following it up with a knuckler?"
"Can you imagine her catcher having a friggin’ coronary?" I butt in.