Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 10
DOT HAD ACCEPTED an invitation to the Browns’ for Thanksgiving Dinner. Dennis was concerned about others, but when he talked to Lana, he found out they’d also invited Amy, Brenda, and Gransy.
“Natalie can’t come,” Lana said. “Her sisters are all coming home from college for Thanksgiving, then going right back for a holiday tournament of some sort. It will be nice for the family to have all five sisters at the Thanksgiving table, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yeah. I think it’s great,” Dennis said. “I wasn’t as upset about them not coming as that we might be excluding them. I know you wouldn’t do that, though.”
“You know, though, you only asked about one of our other girlfriends,” Lana said.
“Um… Well… I mean, I assume they will all just um… you know, they’d have family things with their own families.”
“Instead of our family. It’s true, Den. We wouldn’t have thought to invite Judith and Diane, or Tori, or Rosie, or Leanne. They’ve somehow become outside our family,” Lana said.
“Should I do something? I mean, you’re right. But I just don’t see them the same way I see you, Amy, Brenda, and Natalie,” Dennis confessed.
“No. We’ll be reminding you, though. Not to dig at it, but when each one of them leaves us, it’s still going to hurt. I talked to Nat and we just want to remind ourselves that things will be different. Probably before basketball season is over,” Lana said.
“I sure do love you four. It’s just completely different than with anyone else.”
“I love you.”
“Lord, we thank you for the blessings of this year,” Randy prayed at the table. “We thank you for every member of our extended family gathered at this table and ask your blessings on each one. And for those members of the family who are not able to share this meal with us, we ask your blessing on them and your protecting hand to cradle them. Bring us all closer together as we come closer in your service. Amen.”
“Amen,” the family responded.
“That was a lovely blessing, Randy,” Tom said.
“Well, with Brenda, Amy, Dennis, Lana, and Natalie working to build their family unit as hard as they work at playing their games and studying, I’m feeling like I have my first in-laws at the table. Elsa and I wanted to try out our feeling of family,” Randy answered as he carved turkey and everyone else filled their plates. The Browns had one of the long extending dining tables that could easily have seated Natalie and her parents in addition to the thirteen gathered.
Dot gave Tom a nudge and nodded. Tom clinked his fork on his water glass once everyone had been served. They all looked up at him.
“You’ve included me as a part of the family and I want to thank you,” he said. “And on the theme of families, I want you all to know that I have asked Dot to marry me, and she has consented.”
“Yay!” Dennis shouted, leading the applause. “I knew you’d do it!”
“Thank you, Dennis. Your blessing means more than I can say,” Dot said. She leaned toward Tom and kissed him on the cheek.
“What’s the date?” Gransy asked.
“We’re thinking a nice traditional June wedding, but really, just with our family around us. And I mean all of you at this table,” Dot said.
“Lots of things will be changing around that time,” Elsa sighed. “Graduation will be in May and I expect we’ll know by then where kids are going to college. Do you plan to stay in the house in Bartley, Dot?”
“Well, the house Tom bought in the country between Bartley and White Center is a little more comfortable than ours in town. I expect we’ll move out there. We don’t want to disrupt Peg too much, though,” Dot said.
The dinner was jovial. Peg was happy to be with Nils and Sofie, Dennis was happy to be with Amy, Brenda, and Lana. It was clear that Tom and Dot were happy together, and Randy and Elsa welcomed them and Gransy to their home ‘anytime.’
“Let’s start easy and work those Thanksgiving calories off,” Dennis called out. The varsity teams were both practicing on Friday after Thanksgiving. Their coaches didn’t want to risk them not being ready for the game on Tuesday. They were practicing early in the afternoon so they could go back to fun activities. A few players who were on family vacations over the holiday were unable to practice, but the coaches tried not to let that influence their decisions regarding who would play on Tuesday. They recognized that it was a school vacation day and they didn’t have the right to force the kids to practice. Most, however, wanted to be there and wanted to be at the top of their game.
Dennis started slow—he was feeling the effects of overeating like most of the others were—but he built up to a pretty good pitch in the workout and everyone was sweating when they switched to practice.
“All right, guys,” Dennis said. “Coach Neil gave me permission to give you my observation from the scrimmage Tuesday. That’s because I know why you lost. You had two things you let slip. Angelines, how do we win?”
“Run, run, run!” the girls shouted back.
“Guys, you met a team that can outrun you. You did darn well in the first three quarters. You had us beat. But you ran out of steam. There’s no reason for that. You know how to run. You have to run for the full thirty-two minutes. Secondly, you had more steals, more blocked shots, more rebounds, and more field goals than the Angelines. Why did you lose?”
No one responded. The news they had more baskets and dominated the stats was a surprise to them.
“Wolverines hit thirteen of eighteen free throws. Not bad. 72%. The Angelines hit almost 74%. You wouldn’t think that would make such a difference. Until you add in the fact that twenty-eight of the six points they beat you by came on free throws! You gave them thirty-eight opportunities to score a free point! What gives, guys? Two starters and one sub fouled out of the game. Natalie drained thirteen of sixteen free throws. She alone removed any advantage you had with thirteen points from the foul line. Go back to practice and clean up your game! You can’t win unless you play and you can’t play if you foul out.”
The guys grumbled a little and headed over toward their part of the gym to practice. Dennis turned to the girls.
“They aren’t the only ones with foul trouble,” he growled as the girls came to attention in front of him. “Rosie and Judith, you both fouled out.”
“They were being so rough!” Judith complained.
“There is no way you can give a bigger team the same kind of punishment they can give you. For now, you can do two things. Make even more of your free throws and avoid giving away points.” They all nodded and got to work.
“I love going out with you,” Tori said. “I know you have a lot of other responsibilities, but I fantasize about how much we could be together if I was your only love. Still, I’m glad we can go out tonight.”
“You know I always love to go out with you or just hang out with you. I love you, Tori,” Dennis said.
“Whatever gave you the idea to see this movie?”
“You’re always talking about Lady Gaga and how much you like her. She’s the star of this,” he said.
“Yeah. I just hope she lives up to my expectations. I didn’t expect her to play a murderer.”
“If you don’t like it, we’ll leave,” Dennis said.
“Just like that?” Tori asked. “You mean you’d just get up and leave in the middle of a movie if I said I didn’t like it?”
“Of course! Why would I want to force you to sit through something you didn’t like? That’s like, disgusting.”
“You’re really one of a kind, you know? I bet any other girl would be afraid to tell her date she didn’t like something. I really love you.”
The movie wasn’t bad at all and they held onto each other tightly during the tense scenes.
“Was she worth it?” Dennis asked as Tori hung on him on the way out of the theater.
“Oh, God, yes! Did you know she said she couldn’t do the Italian accent with her blonde hair so she dyed it black and spoke with the accent for nine months? She’s really great. I’ll bet one day she gets compared to Meryl Streep for her acting. It will happen.”
“What now?”
“Take me home and make love to me, lover. I’ve made some additions to the barn stall.”
Dennis drove out to her house and they went straight to the barn where they’d had so many group sleepovers. It seemed strange to be out there with only Tori.
She led him to the dressing/sleeping stall next to the shower stall and took him inside.
“Whoa! Did you move out here?” he asked, looking around at the redone room.
“Sort of. It’s not really an apartment because there’s no place to cook or eat. But Dad put the new bathroom addition on and then I did the rest. I wanted to keep it rustic, but make it warmer and cozier,” she said.
“I can’t believe your parents let you do this.”
“Well, I turned eighteen and this is what I asked for as a birthday present. You’re the first person I’ve brought out here to see it.”
“I’m honored.”
“Enough to undress me and make love to me the rest of the night?” she teased.
“If that’s what you’d like, I’m ready and willing.”
The room no longer had straw in it. The barn floor had been sanded and finished with a braided rug in the middle. The old horse stall had been insulated and a new layer of barn board put in over the top. In the middle of one wall was a huge bed.
“That’s as big as my bed!” Dennis said.
“Yes, but we’re the only ones in it. Come on, lover.”
It didn’t take long for both teens to get naked and in the bed. The room had its own heat but the two started warming up even more. Tori was exquisite. She’d worked hard the past year to improve her muscles and stamina. The work had not hurt her trim waist and round breasts at all. She had just a hint of Latina in her heritage and Dennis held her bubble butt in his hands as they kissed and he hardened between them.
He hastened to move down her body and open her sex to his questing tongue. Tori gasped with pleasure as he found her trigger and she ramped up to her first orgasm. It was Tori’s turn to move quickly, rolling Dennis to his back and mounting him in one swift stroke.
“Oh, God! You’re so hot!” Dennis moaned as she began riding him.
“I want you. I want you. I want you,” she chanted as she slid up and down his pole, never quite coming down from an orgasm that started on his tongue. Her muscles rippled around his cock, milking him to a come. It seemed to go fast and soon Tori was cuddled in his arms with his cock beginning to soften in her pussy.
“Take me around the world, Den. I want you everywhere I can fit you,” Tori said.
“Oh. Oh, shoot! We didn’t use a condom.”
“I’ve got an IUD. And it’s too late to worry about it now. I want you in my mouth now. I want to taste my fluids mixed with yours. I want you to come in my mouth.”
“Tori, it’s your night. Whatever you want, baby.”
They didn’t get everything done at once. Both had had a rigorous day. Dennis came in Tori’s mouth and then they both fell asleep. It was in the middle of the night that he felt his renewed erection rubbing between the slicked cheeks of Tori’s ass. They’d never done this together and Dennis was worried about hurting her. If he’d known the truth, Tori was worried about it, too, but she was determined.
“Yes,” Tori hissed as he lodged the tip of his cock at her anus. “Yes, yes, yes.” She pushed back and Dennis pushed toward her, meeting the resistance of her anal ring. Tori didn’t let up and gasped when the head of his cock pushed through into her rectum. They held still as Tori panted and Dennis tried to keep from coming in the insanely tight passage. He reached around and fondled her beautiful breasts as they adjusted to each other. Tori began moving again, edging back farther and farther onto his pole.
Soon they were rocking back and forth with Dennis sliding to his full depth into her ass. Both teens gasped each time he touched bottom. Both were surprised at how long they lasted in this position, but ultimately Dennis could hold back no longer and let go a fiery jet of cum into her rectum. Feeling the burning liquid unleashed inside her brought Tori to a climax as well and she clamped down on him with an intensity he’d rarely felt before. He couldn’t withdraw until Tori began to relax and Dennis softened. They hadn’t spoken a word. Tori led him to the shower and then back to bed.
Tori held Dennis tightly as the two drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, they made love again, softly and slowly this time intentionally ignoring the fact he wasn’t wearing a condom.
“You’d have this every day if you were mine,” she whispered to him. “Free access to all of me all the time. You could come in from the field and fuck me. You could lift my skirts as I cooked and fuck me. You could have me suck you off as you drank your morning coffee and fuck my ass in the afternoon. I’d be like ten girls with all the ways I’d love you. Can we do that, Dennis? Will you be mine? Just mine?”
“Tori, you know I can’t do that. I love you, but I’m just as committed to Natalie and Lana and Brenda and Amy. I wouldn’t throw them over for you. I’m sorry, baby, but if that is what you want, I just can’t do it.”
Tori sighed and kept moving on him, bringing him to erection again inside her as she sped her movements until they were once again fulfilled.
“I know. I knew. I just had to try. I didn’t want this to be our breakup fuck,” Tori said. Before he could respond, she kissed him passionately. “I can’t do it. I can’t be just one of the girls. It was fun and I thought it would work, but I find myself getting jealous of them and angry at you spending time with them. I don’t want to be that kind of person. I thought sure that if I just let you come in me without a rubber, you’d have all you want. If you came in my ass, you’d see that I’d give you anything. I’m sorry, Dennis. If I can’t be your one and only, I want to be free.”
It was a difficult morning. The breakup was done, but they weren’t ready to be finished. Dennis followed his rules: No means no. He wouldn’t try to convince Tori to be what they wanted and give up on having a one and only. That was crude and cruel. But at the same time, he couldn’t resist her when she asked him to make love with her once again before he went home. They weren’t mad at each other. They weren’t out of love with each other. They just recognized they weren’t what the other needed or wanted. Not after this morning.
The big game Tuesday was anticipated by the entire community. The Raiders were visiting and were said to have a strong team for both boys and girls, even though the school was a little smaller than Bartley. The hot water had been fixed just in time and the new home and visitor locker rooms were a welcoming sight for both teams. General lighting was on in the gymnasium welcoming the biggest crowd ever at a Bartley game. The Raiders had to travel nearly two hours to make the first game of the season, but they had a good complement of fans who made the trip as well.
The girls warmed up with Debbie and Lana leading them. The two team managers coordinated the shooting drills and dribbling drills. Their dribbling practice was so well choreographed the Raiders’ team stopped their warmups to watch the show the Angelines were putting on. Their coach got in their faces and yelled at them for getting distracted, but when they’d gotten back into the flow of their warmup, he was watching the Angelines, too.
Introductions were made with a new followspot pinpointing each player as she ran out onto the court. The Angelines slapped the hands of their two junior high VIPs as they ran out on the court to shake hands with the opposing team. Then both teams lined up on their foul lines, facing the flag as Peg sang the National Anthem. Her voice was clear and sent chills down everyone’s back. The followspot zeroed in on the flag as all the other lights in the gym faded down.
The singing ended and the tech hit the switch to turn all the lights up full, including the game lights, which hadn’t been on earlier. Everyone heard a pop and the gymnasium was plunged into complete darkness with only the exit lights on. A moment later, the emergency lights came on, illuminating the gym in low blue-green light. A maintenance man ran to the score bench with a bullhorn.
“Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. We seem to have overloaded the master breaker and have a worker resetting everything. This should be taken care of in just a few minutes, so if you’d just remain in your seats, we’ll get back to the game as quickly as possible.”
The pep band immediately took over, playing school songs and marches while the maintenance people worked feverishly to get the lighting reset. This time when the lights began coming on again, they did so slowly, lighting the gym floor with the game lights and bringing only about half the lights in the stands up. Staff ran through the building to be sure all non-essential power consumption was turned off.
Finally, the game got started, running about fifteen minutes behind schedule.
Diane controlled the tip and Natalie fired the ball downcourt to Tori, who dropped in the first score of the game. That set the tone. The Angelines put a full court press on the Raiders from the beginning, with Amy stealing the ball on the inbound pass and throwing it to Natalie who laid it up and in.
Most of the first quarter was played at the Angelines’ end of the court with the Raiders managing to break loose only once to score five minutes into the period. At the end of the first period, the Angelines led 21-2. Ardith kept the starters in. She wanted to see how well they would work together. Amy’s offense was weak and she didn’t score, but she had a lot of assists and a surprising number of rebounds. Tori and Natalie were both on fire, shooting over the heads of their opponents. Diane and Rosie controlled the boards and set the picks that cleared their teammates. At the end of the half, the Angelines led 40-7.
In the second half, Ardith began substituting Liz, Shelby, Daphne, Leanne, and Judith into the lineup, but not pulling more than one of her starters at a time. At the end of the third quarter the score was 55-11.
Finally, she pulled all the starters from the fourth quarter so the younger players had a chance to get a feel for the ball. The Raiders took advantage of the younger players’ inexperience and outscored them 2-14. That wasn’t enough to alter the 57-25 outcome of the game. The Angelines had their first victory of the season.
The Wolverines came out strong in the second game of the night. Everyone agreed it was a good game, though the boys lost by one, 53-54.
Unfortunately, no one had the energy or time to go out after the game since it was a school night. But they definitely went home looking forward to the rest of the season.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
