What a Shortstop Does Ch. 06-10

Around noon, Sarah's phone rang. She caught the little picture of Roisin's face, a surprised expression with her mouth scrunched up in an exaggerated 'o'. She'd taken Sarah's phone and took a couple funny selfies when Sarah had gone to the bathroom during a recent movie night. This photo was Sarah's favorite.

"I gotta take this!" Sarah paused the game, grabbed her phone, and hopped off the bean bag as she answered. "Hey!"

"Never let me drink with those two again." Roisin's voice sounded hoarse and agitated.

"Oh no," Sarah giggled as she slipped out of her room, "what happened?"

"Well it started as hot toddies, but somewhere in the middle Bailey's was introduced. Then it was fireball hot chocolate and I think I passed out right after the vodkachino was invented."

"What the hell is a vodkachino?"

"Fuck if I know?! They tried to kill me, Sar. They really did."

Sarah smiled at Roisin's dramatics. She wandered down the hall and out the back patio door. It was chilly, but quiet. The rest of the house was bursting with aunts, uncles, and screaming cousins. "Are you just getting on the road?"

"Yeah, I had to tell my mom I was finishing a last minute project. I don't think she believed me, but hopefully one of my brothers will cover for me. How's your house?"

"Loud."

Roisin's chuckle was muffled by her car's engine. "Sounds fun. How many cousins do you have again?"

They chatted for an hour while Roisin drove. Sarah told her about their wine sneaking, her favorite video games, and the plot to keep Aunt Laura from attempting to make, and subsequently ruin, the sweet potatoes. Roisin said she had an aunt like that too.

"So, when we get back, where are we going on our date?"

"Hm..." Sarah thought, "I've got a few places in mind. What nights do you have off?"

"Only Monday next week. Nutcracker rehearsals start Tuesday," she spit the title "Nutcracker" like it was a dirty word.

"Why do you say it like that? I thought you liked ballet?"

"Yes, but we do the Nutcracker every year! It's our biggest money maker for the program. I guess it loses some of the magic the third time around."

"Well, I'd still like to come see it."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

"Okay, good," she could hear Roisin's smile, "I'll reserve you a ticket then."

"Sounds great-"

"Sarieeeee, we're ready for lunch come insiiiiide!" Hailey's slightly tipsy frame stuck through the patio door to call her in.

"Okay, I'll be right there. Stop acting so drunk, dummy!" She shooed the other girl inside. "I've gotta go. I hope the rest of your drive goes quickly!"

"Thanks, Sarieeee! It won't be much longer." Roisin's voice mocked her through the phone.

"You are NOT allowed to call me that!" Sarah whined.

Roisin's laughter rolled, "Okay, okay, but it's cute. I'll text you later?"

"Yup, bye!"

"Bye Sarie!"

Sarah hung up, rolling her eyes.

Chapter 8: A Hunch Confirmed

Friday evening found Sarah and her cousins in her room again sprawled over every surface. Thursday had been hectic, fun, and full of food and football. Friday morning, the dads had attempted to organize backyard football with all the kids, which meant hyper-competitive family time along with chasing screaming children around the yard for hours. The older cousins had offered to make the store run that afternoon to escape the rest of the chaos. At the store, Ryan purchased two bottles of liquor and some sodas which they snuck up to Sarah's room in one of her softball bags.

"Ugh, I never want to see turkey again!" moaned Hailey.

"I never want to see Aunt Laura's sweet potatoes again!" cried Noel. The plot to pass off the sweet potato duties had failed spectacularly as Aunt Laura had started them before anyone else got up Thursday morning.

"I stopped eating those potatoes years ago. I just keep them on my plate while I go get seconds, then I dump them when no one's looking. Give me another drink," Sarah held out her cup as Ryan poured her more rum.

"Are you guys drinking?!" Sarah's door burst open with the force of her ten year old cousin, Dominic, who had clearly been listening and snooping. "Oooo, I'm telling!"

Hailey leapt up and grabbed her brother by the shoulders, shutting the door behind him and pushing him against it. "What do you want you little spaz!"

"Hey, hey, you might wanna be nicer to me."

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Dude, come on, be cool." It was unclear if Dominic actually looked up to Ryan enough for his influence to do anything, so Sarah decided to step in.

"I'll give you ten bucks to keep your mouth shut," Sarah pulled out her wallet, "If you tell, I'm taking my ten back and giving you a swirly. If you tell Aunt Laura about the sweet potatoes, I'll give you two swirlies."

Dominic's eyes grew wide, "Okay."

"Now beat it!" Hailey cawed. He smirked as he took the cash and bolted out the door.

"Good thinking, Sarie. Ugh, what a twerp." Hailey flopped back onto the bed.

Sarah's phone buzzed.

R: My brothers have invented a new Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. It's called the 'Dead Donald Duck'.

Sarah snorted, Roisin's brothers sounded hilarious.

S: Why Donald Duck?

R: Something about not being able to wear pants while eating it.

S: Ew.

R: Yah.

"Who ya texting, Sarieeee?"

"My friend." Sarah didn't look up from the screen.

"You mean your BOYfriend!"

"Shut up, Hailey."

"What's his naaame? Got any photos? Come on, details, Sarie!"

"I don't have a boyfriend, Hailey." Sarah looked up from her phone to attempt solid eye contact. The rum made her wobble, it was a good she was sitting on the floor.

"Yes, you do. No one makes that face when they're just texting friends. Sarie's got a maaaaan!"

"She doesn't have a 'maaaan'," Ryan mocked. He slid drunkenly into Hailey who was now sitting on the edge of the bed, tense.

"Bullshit, she's absolutely dating someone. Probably fucking him in the dugout," she grumbled getting up off the bed in a huff, tipping slightly on her feet.

Ryan snickered, "I highly doubt that."

Noel shoved him over so she could have more room on the other side of the bed.

"She is! She's got a boyfriend she's hiding!" Hailey was almost screeching.

"Sarah doesn't have a boyfriend. Sarah's gay."

There was a loud smack as Noel slapped her hand over Ryan's mouth. Sarah's head snapped up and Hailey whipped around.

The room froze for a solid five seconds. Then Hailey's actual screech broke the tension.

"What?!" Hailey looked between Sarah and the Ryan/Noel combo on the bed. "Sarah is that true?"

She felt her face going beet red, the heat in the ends of her ears told her they were probably red too. "How did you know?" she asked quietly, barely daring a look at the two on the bed.

Noel breathed, letting her hand fall off Ryan's mouth. "We didn't know, but we guessed."

"I'm sorry, Sarah. It was just a hunch we've had," Ryan shrugged, "I didn't mean to say it out loud. We figured you'd tell us when you were ready."

Hailey still hovered in the middle of the room, unsure what to do or say.

"Yeah, well, it seems everybody knew before me...I just realized it this summer. So it's still pretty new."

"Have you...have you told your parents?" he asked gently.

Sarah shook her head.

"Are you going to?"

"Not right now," she sighed. "I'm still figuring out what I want them to know. And yeah, Hailey, I'm talking to someone. But there's absolutely no fucking in the dugout."

"Damn." There was a chorus of nervous laughter.

"Is she from your softball team?" Ryan asked carefully.

"No, she's a dancer."

"Holy hell, Sar."

"Shut up! Don't be gross!" She threw a pillow at Ryan. He smiled at her and Hailey sat down to lean against the desk, curling her legs to her chest. The room seemed to relax a bit. Noel suggested Mario Kart drinking relays and Sarah was eager for the change in conversation.

S: Well...my cousins know now, some of them do anyway.

About 3 minutes later, Roisin responded.

R: You told them? I didn't think you were that drunk.

S: No, they kinda knew already I guess. And me texting with you just confirmed it apparently.

R: Oh. Are you...okay? Like, okay with them knowing?

S: Yeah. I am.

R: Well, good then. Congratulations on opening the closet door. Even if just a crack ;)

Sarah smiled. Maybe it wasn't her style to announce it in some solemn, dramatic gesture. Maybe she just needed to do it so gradually that eventually she was just...out.

Chapter 9: Interruptions

Thanksgiving ended in tight hugs and knowing nods among the older cousins and more than a few painkillers to combat the secret hangovers. Sarah was sad to see them go, but knew that if they kept tradition, Easter would be a riot this year.

She had other things to think about Saturday evening after the house was empty and she was put on dish duty. Her deal with her parents when she started school was that if she kept her grade point average up for 3 semesters, she could bring her car back to campus. Since it was almost the end of the semester, she thought she could negotiate a bit. She laid out the arguments for letting her bring her car to campus now, with 3 weeks left of the semester, her most persuasive being that her parents wouldn't have to waste a whole day to come get her. When classes ended she could just drive herself home for winter break. They didn't need to know that the actual reason was she wanted to take Ro out for a real date and not be the one bumming a ride this time.

Luckily, her parents bought it and agreed that her grades were good enough that she could have her car a little early. Sarah thanked all those late study sessions for her high grades as she packed her gear and some groceries into her car for Sunday's drive back to school. After packing, the rest of the night was relaxed and quiet compared to the chaos of the previous few days. They watched a Christmas movie and played cards like they always did when Sarah was little.

Then Sunday was here and Sarah hugged her parents with a promise to drive safely and text them as soon as she made it back. She felt freedom as she climbed in and took off down the street toward the freeway. Her music played and the traffic was better than she'd expected. When she finally parked outside her dorm, she texted her parents as promised and texted Carly a picture of her car on campus.

C: Sweeeeet! Now we can go places without David! We're leaving this afternoon, probably see you right before dinnertime.

Sarah hauled her things up to her room and stashed her duffle under her bed. She had a little work to do that she'd put off over the break so she plopped down at her desk to knock it out. The early afternoon light shone across the lawn outside her dorm as more students dotted the campus sidewalks, filtering back from their short break. It was windy and cold, but still not snowing yet. Sarah had remembered to bring her good winter boots back with her because she knew it was only a matter of days before it would.

About two hours into working on the mind-numbing paper, her phone rang.

"Hey! Did you make it back to campus yet?" Ro's voice was a welcome distraction.

"Hi! Yeah, I did. I'm just getting some homework done. Are you back?"

"Yup, I've got rehearsal tonight at the studio," Roisin paused before asking, "Are you in your room?"

"Yes, want to come say hi before rehearsal?"

"Would love to, see you in ten?"

"Okay!" Sarah shut her books, picked up the grocery bags she'd tossed on the floor, and ran to brush her teeth.

Exactly eleven minutes later, there was a knock on her door.

Roisin stood there with her dance bag, looking sheepishly as Sarah opened the door with a wide smile. "Hey."

"Is your roommate here?" was her only greeting.

"N- no?"

"Good." Ro crashed into Sarah with her whole body, dropping the bag and letting the door swing closed behind them. Sarah's arms automatically wrapped around Ro's waist as their lips fought hungrily for each other.

"Missed. you. too." Sarah chuckled between kisses. They quickly ducked onto Sarah's bed with Ro pinning her down and running eager hands up her sides, over her chest, and behind her head. Sarah's hands stayed firmly on Ro's waist, massaging the exposed skin as she pushed her shirt up over her hips. Ro moaned quietly as her hands ran lower to grip Sarah's ass.

"I thought about you a lot. Watching you play on Tuesday was...hot."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I think I could be a huge softball fan, if you're on the field." Ro's smile pressed against Sarah's lips. Sarah blushed a bit in spite of herself.

"How was the rest of your weekend?" She asked after their initial greeting cooled down and Ro had slid to the side, still wrapping an arm and leg around Sarah.

"It was good. My brothers continued to torment me, but it's out of love. We played some trivia last night and I won," she paused, debating whether or not to continue, "My mom tried to set me up with the new media director of her church this morning."

"Oh?"

"Apparently he's single, handsome, and very good at designing the weekly bulletin."

"I mean, what else do you need for true love, right?"

Roisin chuckled. "Exactly. I told her I doubted his bulletin design was good enough to turn me straight."

"You said that to your mom?!"

"Yeah." Ro sighed. "It started a fight." Her brow furrowed and she rolled to look up at the bed above.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said quietly.

"Thanks, it's nothing that hasn't happened before. She's constantly telling me about her friends' sons or new guys at church, hell, once she even tried to give my number to the clerk at the bank."

"Yikes."

"Mmhmm. That's my mother."

"Do you think she'll ever come around?"

Ro shrugged, "Maybe? I don't know. She seems to think it will just take the right guy to convince me to give in. I don't know how to explain it to her that like, the hottest most successful millionaire is not going to get me to suddenly turn straight."

"I don't know, I could make a lot of changes for a millionaire," Sarah teased.

Giggling, Ro turned back to her, "Oh yeah? Well, I guess I'll have to up my game if that's my competition."

"Guess you will."

The mischievous smile that spread across Ro's face made Sarah's heart skip a beat. She could hear the wheels turning in some crazy plan Ro was forming.

"How about you help me change into my dance clothes?" Her head tilted and her eyebrows rose suggestively.

"Fuck."

"Is that a yes?"

Sarah jumped up to lock the door before turning back to watch Roisin sprawl on the bed, "That's a hell yes."

This time she was the one to press Ro into the bed. Their kissing devolved into rapid, hard, breathless motion. Both of their shirts were off as fast as Sarah could grab at the hems, yanking Ro's up so quickly she bumped her wrist on the top bunk. Her's came off more smoothly and she was leaning over Ro again before the fabric hit the floor. She straddled Ro while the other woman leaned up to her, trying to grind her hips into any friction she could find. Sarah sank a thigh between her legs causing Ro to moan.

After a few minutes of grinding and kissing, Ro pulled back to gauge Sarah's reaction as she slid a finger under Sarah's bra. This was a step further than they'd gone before, but Sarah nodded her consent. Ro smiled and reached around to unhook the bra, carefully pulling it down off her shoulders, slowly, almost teasingly.

"Wow," Ro breathed. A smile was all Sarah could manage as she sat on her, topless for the first time. Sarah had smaller breasts, but the muscles underneath were evident with every move. Her nipples were dark and pointed in arousal.

It took everything in Sarah not to cover herself at the undivided attention of those intense eyes. Instead she asked, "You too?"

Ro nodded. Sarah's hands wound their way around her back and found the clasp. It was easier taking off her own bra. This angle felt all wrong, but she figured it out quickly and the white, lacy bra fell slack over Ro's frame. She pulled it forward by hooking a finger on the center and Ro adjusted her shoulders as she let her arms slip through the straps. Sarah sighed as the other woman settled back onto her pillow. Ro's breasts were perfectly round and her nipples were small and pink. Delicately, she brushed a few fingers over one. Ro shivered.

"You're beautiful." Leaning over Ro, she felt their chests connect as they kissed once more. Her lips parted in a moan as she felt the other woman's body respond to the naked contact. Ro's arms wrapped around Sarah's back, forcing her closer. Her lips wandered away and found Sarah's neck, throat, clavicle, shoulder, chest, then nipple. Sarah groaned and arched her back into it. Ro's mouth was hot and wet against her breast as she began to suck the nipple into her lips.

"Fuuuck," was all Sarah could manage as she grabbed for the ladder slats at the headboard of her bed to support herself over Ro.

Mouth and hands massaged her chest as Sarah leaned into the contact and tried to remember to breathe. She'd never been touched like this. This was new and amazing and overwhelming. Ro knew just when to suck, when to massage, and how to graze her teeth so delicately over each nipple that Sarah was sure she was going to explode. Her body started grinding down harder on Ro's thigh, demanding pressure and friction over her most sensitive areas. The wetness between her legs was seeping, probably right through to Ro's pants, but she didn't care. She couldn't pull away even if she did want to. Her body was begging for this in the way she ground on Roisin.

Ro's grip shifted off Sarah's tit and she slowed her sucking. Her eyes flicked up to her face, "Do you- do you want more?"

"I want to touch you."

"Then touch me." Roisin grabbed Sarah's hands and shoved them firmly onto her breasts. Sarah dove forward to copy the pleasure Ro had been giving her. She filled her palms with soft, round flesh and parted her left fingers around the perfect, pink nipple. Her lips came down to cover it in one fluid motion. "Yes!" Ro cried.

Encouraged, Sarah massaged and sucked, hardly daring to believe she was eliciting those gorgeous sounds from Roisin's throat. She pressed her leg into the heated space between Ro's legs and was rewarded with a beautiful groan. Ro pressed into her muscled thigh and arched her back to force a fuller grip of her tits in Sarah's hands.

"Fuck, Sarah, I want you. I want to- to-"

But she stopped writhing, cocking her head. Then Sarah heard it too. The jiggle of a doorknob.

"Sarah? Are you in there? Ugh, she must be out. Here, help me find my key." Carly's voice was muffled but unmistakable through the door.

"Shit! Shit shit shit. Get dressed!" Sarah hissed.

Both women launched themselves off the bed and clamored for their shirts. Ro got into hers a second faster and wiped her face and neck with her hands. She sank straight into Sarah's desk chair, looking too rigid to appear casual. Sarah pulled her shirt on and stashed both their bras under her blanket. Then she moved to open the door, pausing to give wide eyes to Ro.

"Oh, hey Carly, David. Didn't hear you out here. Welcome back!" She was proud that her voice only sounded slightly breathless.

Carly was elbow deep in her backpack searching for keys while David was practically buried behind armfulls of laundry and bags. "Ugh, thank you! I swear, I can never find my keys-" Carly froze as she saw the stiff woman sitting in Sarah's chair at the opposite end of the room. "Uh, hi Ro?" She shot Sarah a panicked smile, "We didn't know you were here."