Rounding the Bases

I had aspirations of being a big league baseball player like so many boys did as we were growing up. I was drafted in the 18th round right out of high school but gambled by entering college and hoped to improve my stock and get drafted in an earlier round after a year or two, which would have meant a larger signing bonus and not quite so many bus rides on dilapidated team buses. But my college freshamn year a high and inside pitch from Randy Jenkins saw to it that would never happen. Once the bone around the eye healed I could see, but my ball reading ability and fearlessness in the batter's box was gone. Friends told me I should have went pro instead of gambling on college, but that experience landed me to where I am today, and if today is a consolation prize, it's a damn good one.

Jade Miller had a similar story. She had hoped to join the 2012 US Olympics Gymnastics squad. Years of training and competing left her body beaten and abused yet still feminine, a thing of beauty and gracefulness to be worshipped. Her downfall was the shoulder injury that left her just below that top tier. She had competed for two years in college and like me, cashed in her chips and decided to move on.

Aspen Jones was a bit of a mystery. She never talked about herself. She had the potential to be pretty, but never attempted to take the steps necessary to get there. She looked every bit the athlete, yet didn't show much interest in sports. The fact her last name was the same last name as the owner of the team caused a lot of whispers, but "Jones" isn't necessarily an uncommon name so the rumors or questions didn't seem to go anywhere.

We were all interns or aummer help in the summer of 2017 for the local Triple A baseball affiliate in Chicago. We had no major league sports of any kind in our city or state, so minor league and college teams took the place as major revenue and entertainment. I grew up as a Chicago Cubs fan, so the prospect of working for their Triple A affiliate to the defending World Series Champion was even more exciting than working with Jade and Aspen...at first.

Jade radiated confidence and beauty. Dark shoulder length hair, skin like toasted caramel, sapphire blue eyes, and a fit body that could cause a traffic jam, it was quickly decided that she would be the public face on social media and tv media during the winter for our upcoming media blitz. She was the face that graced local tv and newspapers while the players were in Arizona for spring training and our roster was not yet determined. She was excellent at it and was very popular, both for her abilities and status as a local athlete celebrity.

Aspen sometimes went with Jade and was pictured with her. Usually her duties required that she would just answer the phones or help with season ticket holders. She was good at whatever she did, but generally seemed to be somewhere else.

I was going to learn statistics and analytics once the season got underway, but my main job up to that point was to help dream up gimmicks and promotions for the upcoming season, find corporate sponsors and other ways to make money, and I was pretty good at it. I quickly started to dream up ideas that would get Jade to have to work with me.

It was late January and after our second full week of work we all decided to go out to the downtown party district, the Court Avenue District where local breweries, bars and restaurants were all within walking distance and the parking garages were connected with them via skywalk. Also, we could get to the minor league hockey game this way and see how those marketers did our jobs.

Callie, or "Mom" as we called her, was one of the permanent fulltime employees and not quite 30. She had already been married to and divorced from a player formerly on the team. She had caught him in the act of "sliding home" with one of the interns a few years ago.

"Adam, what do you think of Aspen?" Callie asked me while we were temporarily sitting alone at the bar

"Quiet. I think she could be cute, but seems to be a loner," I answered truthfully.

"Do you know who her dad is?"

"Mister Jones? The owner?" I asked. It made sense.

"No, her dad died when she was young, but 'Mister Jones' is her dad's uncle and he is very protective of Aspen. He took over when his brother's son died, and 'Mister Jones' never had children of his own. Keep that in mind."

So Aspen's dad died when she was young, and her dad's uncle owned the baseball team we all worked for. So what did that mean?

"Does...Aspen...like me? Is that why...? I asked. I wasn't sure why Callie was telling me this.

"Maybe a little. But I think Aspen is more interested in Jade than she is of you," Callie said. "But Mr. Jones has said how impressed he is of you and has been overheard telling Aspen you would be a wonderful suitor for her."

"Suitor," I chuckled. What an old fashioned word. Aspen, if she was interested in men, or me, would be nice to be with, but then there was Jade. My thoughts began to wander back to Jade, and her beauty, and her spitfire personality...

"I know. You all like Jade and don't let it interfere with your work. That's free advice from 'Mom', but don't make Mister Jones upset because you slighted his precious Aspen either. Think with your brain," as she pointed at my skull, "and not your head," as she pointed at my lap. Then she stood up, drained her fruity drink and walked away. Man, her husband had been in idiot unless the intern had been someone like Jade. No, he had been and idiot, pure and simple.

But why did Callie tell me this? Was Aspen into Jade? Who was Jade into? Who was Callie...

It didn't matter. If I wanted to be involved in baseball I needed to use my brain and not my dick. Aspen, Jade or Callie would have to all remain the thoughts of fantasy...

*****************************

I worked a lot with Callie early on and she directed me onto Mr. Jones' radar. I really thought Callie was interested in me despite our 6 or 7 year age difference, and as time went on I thought more and more about it. Aspen started to come out of her shell and Jade and I were able to include her in our leisure activities, which mostly meant going to hockey or basketball or listening to local bands play. The three of us were starting to get pretty close by the time April and the start of the season rolled around.

Roles and jobs didn't change, but new ones were added once we started league play and having home games to host, market and plan for. Jade was still the public face and had a fan-initiated Facebook page devoted to her. She was the one who asked fans trivia questions sponsored by our partners. Even though she usually didn't sell 50/50 raffle tickets, she was the one who drew the winning ticket. If it meant public interaction on a personal level, we sent Jade out. And she always meant success.

Aspen sold tickets along with 4 or 5 others, but she preferred being in the mascot uniform. Sometimes she would fill in as the "ball girl" and run baseballs out to the umpire. But mostly she tried to remain in the shadows. Even though I developed a bond with her, I could never quite break through. I wanted to crack that shell, but she still hadn't opened up.

But the bond I developed with Jade was getting stronger. We spent more and more time together and became solid friends. I would dream up promotions, games, gimmicks or silly shit, and Jade would always pull it off. But whatever promotion we were doing or assignments that needed filled, I tried to keep Jade away from the players. I didn't want her going the same route as the intern that broke up Callie'e marriage...

Late in April we had a noon game on Thursday followed by a night game in Omaha on Friday. We- Jade, Aspen, another male intern and I were going to get to go for two nights then come back home while the team moved on to another 2 cities. I was going to bunk up with the other guy and Aspen and Jade would share a hotel room.

And as luck would have it, the other male intern was hit by a car as he jaywalked. He would be fine in a few days, but he would not make this trip. So I got a hotel room alone.

"Adam, what room do you have?" Jade asked me.

"422," I replied. "And you guys?"

"424," Jade replied. "Maybe it will have one of those doors between and we can run back and forth in our pajamas and underwear and have pillow fights. Would you like that, Adam? Hmm..."

Would I like that? No, why waste time with pajamas and underwear? Let's just get naked and save time- you, me, and Aspen in a gratuitous sex filled orgy os what I thought, but I didn't figure I should say that since the second thing we did as employees was watch a video and sign a statement stating we would not engage in sexual harassment of any kind. Based on an example in the video, what Jade was doing probably qualified as sexual harrassment, but since I was not offended and no one else was present to be offended, it was permissible. Or some stupid shit like that.

We did have rooms with the doorway between rooms, but with Aspen in there I didn't want to push my luck. Even if I didn't get laid during the entire internship, it was such a great opportunity and I did not want to fuck it up so I figured a few months of celibacy was tolerable. I wanted to work in the front office of a baseball team and getting fired for sexual harrassment would keep that dream from happening. I would have to settle for the NFL or NBA with that background...

That night, as I lie in bed rubbing one out, I could swear I heard moaning and grunting coming from the bedroom next door. I pretended it was Jade and Aspen, fingering each other and licking each other's pussies. Who would be the aggressor? Would Jade reluctantly be lying back, head propped up on a pillow while Aspen was eating her box? Or maybe Jade had a vibrator and was workin over Aspen's g-spot as I lie there dreaming...

All of a sudden I came in my hand and shot it up on my chest. I snapped to the here and now and felt ashamed...

I needed to get laid, and it would be a risk worth taking.

******************************

The next morning at breakfast I was sitting alone when Jade came up and asked to join me. I was slightly embarrassed that she would see a splotch of cum on me somewhere, and she actually seemed to blush. Why?

"Hey Adam. Sleep well?"

"Okay, I guess. You guys? Pillow fights in your underwear? If so, you forgot to ask me like you promised," I played back.

"No," she said and kind of snorted. Jade seemed...embarrassed? Maybe they did fool around? "We did each other's hair and painted nails. Wanna see?"

Well hell yeah! But more nonchalantly I said, "I suppose. Maybe later you can braid my hair, too." That wasn't going to happen. I had a high and tight haircut.

"Want to try out the pool before we go over to the ballpark?" Jade asked.

Oh hell yes!! The chance to see Jade and even Aspen in a swimsuit!

"I was going to work out then hit the sauna and pool, so that sounds good," I said. Shit, now I had to work out. "So what did you do? I don't do much in Omaha," I prodded.

"I told you, we stayed in, watched HGTV, and did hair. You may not recognize Aspen, and even if you don't like it, be nice and tell her you do. Please?"

We continued to make small talk and eat our breakfast and Aspen walked in. She looked a little sheepish, but her hairstyle was very flattering on her. I teased and said, "Helll-loooowww. How are you? You don't happen to know our friend Aspen, do you?"

"Do you like it? I'm not so sure..." she said.

"It really looks good on you. It frames your face and highlights your eyes," I said. I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but my sisters used to say stuff like that to each other all the time. If pressed, I could probably add to it.

"Thanks. It means- I mean, thank you, I wasn't sure," Aspen said. "So what are the plans for today?"

"Well, 'The Rock' is gonna pump iron and keep us waiting for him in the hot tub and pool. Guess he isn't in a hurry to see our new bikinis..." Jade said.

"Well, technically, you should wait an hour after eating before you swim, but if you want me to skip...I can, I guess," I said. Whatever I said now sounded desperate. "We could swim, and I saw on the hotel channel Omaha has an Escape Room challenge. We could do that."

"What room are you gonna make us escape from? You gonna tie us up in your basement, Adam?" Jade teased.

We got along well, and despite my desire for her, and her making me nervous, act dumb, and say things that sounded stupid...I loved how she teased me.

"I've seen those before and did one of them here last year," Aspen chimed in. I think that sounds fun. We don't have much to do today until around 5 so it should work."

"I'm keeping book tonight," I said. "But that sounds fun. I will call for an appointment."

We continued to discuss the days events and I was done, and even though I didn't want to, I left, put on gym clothes and hit the weight room. After that I changed into swimtrunks and swam a few laps. The women came in and jumped in the unheated pool, shrieked that it was too cold, and went to the hot tub. I didn't feel like I should jump in with them right away, mainly because I had huge boner. Aspen looked really cute in her swimsuit, a bikini that covered her up but showed just enough. Jade's bikini highlighted her best assets and the white color magnified her beautiful skin tones.

They only stayed there for a few minutes and just as my dick went down and my courage increased, they each grabbed a couple of towels and headed to the sauna and asked me to join them.

When I strolled in after a few minutes they had towels covering their breasts and waists and had piled their swimsuits on the seat. "If you wanna sit in here, the suit comes off Mister Rock the body builder," Jade informed me.

I wrapped a towel over my waist and covered myself as I dropped my swim trunks to the floor, picked them up and tossed them on the seat near their suits, and I sat down. The steam and heat felt good. In about 15 minutes I would put my trunks back on and quickly dive in the cool pool and get rapidly cold. But after about 10 minutes the ladies got up, picked up the suits on the bench, dropped their towels revealing the same suits I had seen them in earlier, grabbed my suit and said, "See ya upstairs!" and quickly fled.

Crap. Now what?

****************************

I snuck up the back stairwell. I had a shirt and flip flops back by the pool along with my room key. I had to wrap a towel around my waist but I was able to make it back without being seen by a family of missionaries or someone who would take offense at my appearance. When I got in my room I had a text from Jade telling me to open our between room door, so I opened my door and found their half of the door was already open.

Jade and Aspen were having a pillow fight in their swimsuits. It was apparent they had been waiting for me to open my door before beginning their fight, and I realized I should have put shorts on before opening the door.

"Your trunks are over there," Jade said and pointed towards the front door of their room, and as she did Aspen nailed her with a pillow, knocking her left boob out of her bikini top, and I noticed it. And I went from 35% hard to 110% hard instantly.

And keep in mind I only had a towel over my dick.

I grabbed my trunks and tried to act cool, and said over my shoulder, "In 30 minutes we leave for the Escape Room if you still want to go."

"Meet you downstairs in 20...Rock," Aspen said.

I went into my room, grabbed my clothes and shut the bathroom door. It took longer to get dressed than it took to rub one out. The mental picture of Jade's gloriously naked breast had me lustfully dreaming of her.

***************************

I knocked on the door and Aspen opened it. When they were ready we all headed down the back stairway I had used half an hour before. Aspen had the keys to our work car so she drove, leaving an uncomfortable decision as to where Jade and I would ride. I took the backseat alone. Aspen seemed to know where she was going and we got there 10 minutes before our appointment.

As we were playing the game or working the puzzle, at one point Jade and I both reached for a book to try and decipher the clue and our hands touched. A long, lingering, full of sexual tension moment that made us snap out of it when Aspen said, "Hey, guys, have sex later. Now I need that clue so we can get out of here. We are down to 13 minutes left!"

The point of an escape room or puzzle room is to look at all of the items in a room and on the wall to solve a series of clues in under 60 minutes. There are several layers and you generally want or need multiple partners with different skill sets to solve these puzzles.

Mental slip. "Multiple partners" to go along with Aspen telling us to have sex later...It was all building up and I was going to explode. And there was no denying that moment, that spark, jolt of electricity.

That connection.

We solved the puzzle with 6 minutes to go which was the new record, so they took our picture. Aspen, me, then Jade, all sitting on a couch together. Jade's hips were touching mine. I could feel heat and electricity pass between us.

The ride back to our hotel was eerily quiet. Aspen and Jade seemed to be irritated with each other. Was Jade into me and Aspen spilled the beans? Or were Aspen and Jade into each other and Aspen was aware of the spark between Jade and I? Or Aspen into me and she knew I liked Jade? And her. All this stupid high school drama I thought I left behind years ago. Hell, I thought I could handle them both if I needed to anyway...

We all changed and got ready to head out to the ballpark. Aspen went to watch the game with her uncle and I worked in the visitor's pressbox learning the ins and outs of game analytics. Basically I kept stats.

Jade met up with the Omaha interns and by the 2nd inning was back at my side. "Can I watch you work? Will you explain what you are doing?"

"I can try. Basically I have had a crash course on it and will compare my work to what Dave does. But sure, I'd love to have your company," I said. I hope I didn't sound lame.

Jade and I talked the entire time. I am sure if I was being graded on my statistical performance I would be happy with a C-, but probably earned a solid D grade. I knew I was in love with Jade. I didn't need to crunch numbers or analyze it anymore. That moment later in the game, during the 7th inning stretch and we sang, "Root, root root for the CUBBIES!" together at another team's ballpark, I knew I was in love. And I think she knew it, too.

Aspen gave Jade the keys to the work car and said she was going out. Jade parked when we got back to the hotel and we walked over to an Applebees for a late supper instead of going upstairs to our rooms alone. I think she wanted to spend more time with me, and I wanted to spend the rest of my time with her. We ate, we laughed and talked and reflected on our first four months of work. We then walked back to the hotel and held hands. Neither one was willing to deny the spark that existed.

I walked her to her room, and as we stood outside her door we could hear someone was having her pussy pounded and calling out to God and announcing she was coming. Jade said, "Ugh, I think Aspen is home. Can I come to your room for a little bit?"

HELL YEAH! FUCK YEAH! WHOO-HOO!

"Sure," was all I said as I tried to sound cool- as my voice cracked.

I opened the door for her and she checked that my door to their room was locked, then she sat down at the desk in my room, and I plopped down on my bed.

"Adam, I like you, but I will not hop into bed on the first date," she said.

My heart was racing. She could probably see it beating through my shirt, or realistically see my neck pulse bulge with every heart beat. The Pah-POOM, Pah-POOM, Pah-POOM beat in my ears like a bass drum- no, like several bass drums all slightly out of time because one drummer cold not keep up that rhythm. And one drum would not sound as loud as my heart seemed to reverberate and sound in my ears. I felt my cheeks flush and I slightly felt light headed. I had joy and excitement and fear all wrapped up into one wonderful and yet scary emotion. I felt tears form behind my eyes and felt blood ready to race from my brain to my favorite appendage if need be. I felt every brain cell turn on. I heard sirens and alerts and bugle calls, alerting my entire body to potential action of some sort- not necessarily sex, but anxiety and something big and emotional was close to come.