Bush League: New Adult Sports Romance

by Pfeiffer Jayst

  "I'm ready - let's get this done" I texted Vida and didn't expect an answer back so quickly. Vida was more than enthusiastic to get to work. She knew why she had come and she knew what was expected of her. Because of me, we had a limited amount of time left and were really under the gun to get it all done.

  Vida thankfully arrived quickly from wherever she had been sightseeing and agreed to drive so that I could just 'let it all out'. We didn't have a destination in mind but just drove aimlessly until we were circling the country club parking lot, the scene of so much trouble on this short trip so far. There wasn't anybody there so we parked there, praying for privacy.

  With pen furiously scribbling on a note pad from the glove box, Vida took down the words flowing almost effortlessly from my lips. She let me say all I needed to say. The release of pent-up steam felt good but I wasn't done yet. Each time I indicated a new song, she'd turn the page and take down the fractured thoughts as they came out of me.

  We had been there quite a while when the employees started showing up. A few double-takes into the car meant that soon the whole town would know I was there. That also meant the paparazzi would be close behind. We had to find a secure location.

  "Let's go get my guitar and go to a hotel," I told Vida.

  "Whatever you want, I've been wanting this type of session since we got here," she reminded me.

  The house was quiet when we arrived back there, just Dakota and my soon-to-be stepsister hanging out. I rushed straight past them, not even looking at them, on a mission to get my guitar and to get out asap.

  "Hey Finn," Allie tried to get my attention but I wasn't having it. I continued to where I had left my guitar, keeping busy as she tried to get in my face.

  "Don't worry about it," I spit over my shoulder when it was clear she wasn't going away, "We'll be out of your hair in a minute."

  Allie's stunned silence let me know my words had landed as intended. "W-w-where are you going?" she finally asked as Vida appeared at my side. I grabbed the pretty songwriter by the side and pulled her close to me, surprising us both when I landed a kiss firmly on her lips.

  "Hotel. We need some privacy." Though my words were meant for Allie, I kept attention on Vida and the two of us shared an intimate giggle, one that I knew got under Allie's skin. She stormed out of the room and as soon as she was gone, I loosened my clutch on Vida.

  "Look, I don't care what your inspiration is," Vida said, "just as long as we can finally write this album."

  I held up my recently located guitar and the two of us quickly left the house, no goodbyes to the girls inside.

  *****

  A quick internet search and I found a perfect isolated place where nobody could find us. When we had arrived at the motel, Vida had to go inside and take care of anything; we couldn't risk the staff knowing I'd be staying in their rinky-dink joint, then we'd never get anything done. Vida knew what she was doing when she opted for the room with two beds but there was plenty of room for us to lock ourselves in there for awhile and not be bothered. Without wasting time, I started to strum my guitar and play the melody that had been banging around inside of my head. Words just flew out of me, of a love that I once had but could never be again. Vida stopped messing with the curtains and looked at me with awe, encouraging me to keep playing when I slowed down.

  "Finn, that's great," she said once the last note was played. "Seriously...that was really good."

  Her encouragement gave me the confidence I was constantly trying to pretend that I had.

  "Got any more ideas?" she asked and had no idea what she was in for.

  *****

  The hours flew by like seconds and once we realized we had an excellent set of songs to bring to the band and label, Vida and I both agreed we could call an end to the marathon session. So many hours had passed, we couldn't take a nap in the hotel, it was almost check-out time. While she squared up with the front desk, I stepped outside proud, knowing we had accomplished something great that night. The harsh early morning sun made me jog to the car like a vampire, wavy lines came up from the pavement like knives at this ungodly, early morning hour. From across the parking lot, I watched people going about their day, their normal, routine day and couldn't figure out why anyone would choose to live that way. Running errands in a small town, never knowing what it's like to stand in front of thousands chanting your name. Couldn't they see that there's a whole world out there with more exciting things to do besides picking up milk and going to the bank? When I saw an older couple walk by, a man and a woman laughing together, I was suddenly the one who felt jealous. They didn't need to have everyone heap praise on them, they only needed each other for the next big thrill. Everything that they needed in the world was standing right next to them. They found love and lost time for everything else.

  "Ready to go, rock star?" Vida broke me from my trance. The smile plastered on her face was hard to contain, we both knew we had created something great, something that was going to change the world. As we made our way to the car, I couldn't help but toy with the idea of trading it all in for a chance to have what that old couple had. Something real.

  "The grass sure is green out here," I thought out loud. Vida just chuckled, the two of us still coming down from the intoxicating high of accomplishing so much, nonsense and babbling was permitted. But I wanted more, wanted to feel alive. As she drove, I perched myself outside of the window, the new day's sun bathing last night's clothes into my skin and I shouted "Good morning!" to anyone who could hear me. Cars passed us with curious looks, nobody appearing to recognize me or my enthusiasm for what it was. I wanted to know what they knew in this town, I wanted to share the love they felt. Maybe I wanted a simpler life where I could love who I wanted to.

  Vida's enthusiasm wasn't with a lust for life but instead vested elsewhere.

  "Do you realize how big this album's gonna be? We started like six, maybe seven sure fire hits. The label is gonna shit when they hear this. Well, of course you have to record the demo first but once you do, boom!" she simulated a head exploding as she kept talking a mile a minute. "We're talking some next level shit right here." Vida took a hand off the wheel to pat the notepad by her side, the one that contained the seeds of SharkFin's next hit record. If it disappeared, so potentially did my future as a rock star. It was only a brief flirtation but the second my hand approached the stack of papers, hers clutched it tighter. She wasn't going to easily give up the ticket to cementing her reputation as a songwriting guru.

  Any attempt at modesty went out the window when Vida bounded in the front door of the farmhouse and giddily gushed to Dakota that she had just helped write the best album of all time. The two giggling girls disappeared into another part of the house before I could beg her to play it cool. Just as I started to dream of a nice, soft bed to go fall down onto, I saw that she was standing there. She just stood there staring at me, like she wanted me to say something or perform for her. She had lost that right and at that moment, I knew she would just bring me down. Allie just watched me brush right past her, unable to think of anything to say to stop me. Again.

  The intern and the songwriter had struck up quite an unlikely friendship, the two acting like old camp bunk-mates after only a few days together. When I entered the sun-room, Vida was sitting on the floor as Dakota sat behind her on the couch, her legs wide open for Vida to rest between. The intern was playing with Dakota's hair as she listened to the story of our night off together. Seeing Allie had caused my adrenaline to spike so I knew sleeping wouldn't be an option. These girls were going to have to keep me company. Dakota obliged when I asked to take her place, opening my own legs wide and placing the perky songwriter right in between them, my thighs embracing her as I attempted to "do" her hair. The three of us had a laugh but I really turned it on once I saw Allie standing in the doorway, watching.

  My hands moved from her hair down to Vida's shoulders, massaging her body in a way that possibly could've come across as generous but also could've given off the
"we-spent-the-night-fucking" vibe. I brought my face down close to her exposed neck, letting my breath tease her bare skin in a way that I knew drove all girls wild. I figured Vida was probably getting wet despite herself, possibly Dakota too, and I also was aware that it was making Allie's blood boil.

  "Hey, um, Finn," Allie broke up our good time by trying to get my attention. The three of us looked up at her with confusion. "Can I...can I talk to you for a second? In the other room?"

  Why she always had to be a wet blanket, I don't know. She didn't flinch when I shot her an annoyed look, instead digging in her heels and refusing to take back her request. I tried to tell Dakota and Vida I'd be right back for them but they had forgotten all about me the second I stood up, lost in their own private conversation without a care in the world.

  Though I demanded several times to know what was so important, Allie insisted we go into the kitchen to have our talk. When we arrived, I saw that she had poured a couple of tall flutes full of what looked like orange juice.

  "Mimosas," she proudly declared. I didn't like that she thought she could bribe me. When I turned to leave, Allie grabbed my arm and hung on for dear life. "Please. Let's just talk, please. I thought you'd want one but you totally don't have to drink it if you don't want."

  It was in my best interest to never let her know that I couldn't handle seeing her sad, couldn't bear to know she was this desperate. As angry as I may have been with her, her eyes told me that she needed me.

  "Finn, I'm sorry," she said in a way that just about broke my heart.

  *****

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Allie

  Every resolve I ever made regarding this man went flying out the window the second I would see him. As angry as I was with him, when he returned to the house with Vida, giggling and touching each other, I felt as though I had been kicked in the stomach. Seeing him be so affectionate with her hurt me deeper than anything I had ever felt. When Dakota joined in on their fun, I felt completely left out and knew my plans to this point hadn't worked. I was lost and didn't know how to fix this, only that I needed to.

  If I knew nothing else in the world, I knew Finn liked his alcohol. Though it was a little on the early side, I poured generous amounts of champagne and orange juice into fancy glasses, the bait to lure Finn in. It took some convincing but I was finally able to coerce him into a private conversation, one where I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. Words flooded through my mind but once we were alone, all I could hear was the sound of my heart racing.

  "Finn, I'm sorry," I started. He seemed more interested in the mimosa than in me laying my heart on the table. He just shrugged, clearly wanting to get back to the girls in the other room. "Finn, please. It doesn't have to be like this."

  He wasn't looking at me or even making eye contact. When his light shone on me, I felt bigger than the world. In his shadow I felt so cold and alone. While I hated how he had the power to make me feel this way, I still longed for his affection and feared I always would. We needed to find a way to move past this and I was going to have my work cut out trying to make that happen.

  "Whatever, it's fine," he said with his eyes darting between his drink and the door. He looked so wounded, much like when we were last alone, I felt even worse. There was nothing I wanted more than to reach out and hug him, try to make him feel better. He had let me get close and I just hurt him. "Can I go?" he asked and I wasn't going to let that happen. I grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured the remaining portion in his glass, asking him to hear me out though I had no idea what to say.

  *****

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Finn

  She had a lot of nerve demanding I hear her out but it wasn't like I hadn't done that to her before. She could say sorry all she wanted but she had put it out there and made it clear how she saw me, how she saw 'us'. Getting popular and famous has its perks but you soon find out that absolutely everyone wants something from you. Everyone has an agenda and you'll be hard pressed to find someone that just wants you for you. This was something I had been somewhat warned about but was still shocked to find it true in every facet of my life. Lonely wasn't something I knew until I had become famous.

  Her ruse to drown me in alcohol was a bit offensive, or I guess it could've been if it wasn't working so well. I happily drank all that she poured me while doing my best to try and put an end to the conversation. That's where she had me though; she looked so earnest, so desperate, so sorry, I had a hard time keeping up a steel front.

  "We have to figure this out," she reminded me, "before the wedding. We have to fix this."

  In my mind, I didn't have to fix shit. We would go our separate ways after the wedding and I could very well go forever without seeing her again. In my heart of hearts though, I knew even without being around her, she'd always be present in my mind. The way she looked when she tried to hide a smile, the way her shoulders shook when she giggled. The fierce determination that I found so admirable, packed into a tiny, fierce frame. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw her and feared it would always be that way.

  Allie played with a few random things on the counter, looking down with a lock of her hair dancing in front of her face. "Can we just try to be friends? For the family?" she asked. Her eyes found mine as she finished speaking and they were begging me to agree. Against all my better judgments, I wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug her, to tell her it was all ok and I would do anything to make her feel better. The restraint I was exhibiting was intense, almost making my body shake as the war played out inside of me.

  "Ok," fell out of my mouth even though I wasn't particularly sure how I could follow through. What choice did I have though? The reality of my new life would be a constant effort to push Allie out of my mind, to try and forget how she made me feel. It was all over and I was going to have to make peace with that.

  "For the family," I told her.

  *****

  Chapter Thirty Five

  Allie

  My victory was short lived; as soon as Finn had accepted my olive branch, he decided to use it as leverage against me.

  "So...how's the article coming along?" he asked. I took an extra long sip of my own mimosa in an attempt to buy time. He did wait for my feeble excuses. "I mean, we're family now. Pals even! You can show me."

  “It's not gonna have an interview any more. It will just be an article since I've had very exclusive access.” I felt it was ok to give him a little bit of information, hoping that would be enough for him. I knew him well enough to know how stubborn he was and that he wasn't going to let this go though. My brain scrambled to try and remember where an older draft was, something that wouldn't inflate his ego so much but they all were pretty much the same. All glowing reviews of his talents as a songwriter.

  As I continued to try and find an excuse, he was still pestering me. "I'll just go in there and read it, it'll only take a minute."

  Finn broke out in a sprint towards my room and unlocked laptop. When he heard my footsteps given chase, he started to giggle and picked up the speed. He got to my room well before I did and when I arrived, Finn slammed the door in my face.

  "Finn, c'mon," I hollered while banging on the flimsy door. "Finn!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, not worried about who could hear me. Instead I heard nothing inside, filling me with fear about what else he might find. Slumping into a pile by the foot of the door, I was horrified that he was reading words that weren't yet ready to be seen by anybody else. At one point I heard Dakota shout that they were going for a walk or something, the two were probably over the continued bickering between Finn and I.

  When the door slowly opened, I shot up to my feet with some hope left that he hadn't gotten into my stuff. Once I saw him walking around the room with my open laptop, I knew it was too late.

  "Not bad..." he said while nodding and pacing the room, laptop still open and illuminating his face. "Not bad."

  Knowing I had one shot, I lunged at my precious lapto
p and took him by surprise, getting possession of the computer but far too late. I scanned the screen to make sure he hadn't deleted or inserted anything but found that he had made it through most of the draft.

  "I think you kind of missed the point though," Finn confused me while he felt comfortable enough to sit himself right down on my bed.

  "Yeah, yeah. Sure," I said while continuing to check everything for any sign of his shenanigans.

  "No, really. I mean, have you ever even listened to my lyrics?"

  His words stung, of course because I had listened to the words he sang. In fact, I had done nothing but listen to them for the past few weeks; SharkFin was completely inescapable. On top of that, my article focused on the songs I've heard that the rest of the world hadn't yet. I had done nothing but examine them backwards and forwards.