Bush League: New Adult Sports Romance

by Pfeiffer Jayst

  "Dry those tears sis, let's go get a drink," he said loud enough to get through to all of the hearing aids around. This boy didn't pay attention to anything.

  “How could you not know that this is a dry wedding?”

  “Even with all of your Mom's lush friends?”

  “Go make nice with them, I guarantee at least one of them has a flask somewhere hidden in their dress.”

  He visibly considered what I told him and appeared to like the idea. “Well, I'd rather go searching under your dress,” he continued with lecherous eyes. I wasn't going to take the bait.

  “Aren't you not allowed to drink? Because of your fight?”

  He bounced back real quick, “Cheat day. My father's only gonna get married one, maybe two more times, I should get to enjoy myself tonight. All restrictions are off.”

  His rationalization for breaking the rules seemed to cause us both to remember his most famous restriction, the one he's been parading around for a month.

  “All restrictions? Even the one week one?” I asked and am ashamed to admit that it came out like, super flirty.

  He picked up on that quickly, his bedroom eyes trying to hypnotize me.

  “All restrictions,” he said with a slimy grin that made me feel a whole bunch of conflicting emotions.

  When we both finally arrived at the table-tag location, the two of us searched for our names, certainly believing we'd be sitting together.

  “Ten,” he told me while peering at the one in my hand. At the same time we both said what table I had been assigned to: "Two”. As we left to go find our respective tables, we soon learned that our seats were at the opposite ends of the room, separated by the expansive dance floor.

  Over at my end, I found myself joining a table of the uber-rich and famous. Couples that were far older than me and definitely more wealthy than I'd ever know. There had to be over a billion dollars spoken for at just my table alone. I'm sure they'd be proud of the five hundred dollars that I could contribute to our status.

  “Are you Carol's daughter?” I was asked several times by each of the people seated there. Once I confirmed that I was, each time that just ended the conversation with a polite nod before they'd turn away. It didn't seem as though my mother was in high regard with Carmine's associates. While I tried to maintain a conversation for the sake of keeping myself entertained, they didn't seem to want much to do with me. Their conversations continued and I was able to pick up snippets about summer homes, winter homes and what they gave my parents for a gift. All fascinating but I did wish I had someone to talk to.

  The first courses were soon dropped in front of us, at least something to occupy me for the time being. It was quite a bit of a surprise to look down and see a bowl of lentils with what I think was part of a fish head. Of course it was a mistake, looking at the rest of the table, I saw beautiful lush, green salads delivered to each person.

  “Um?!” I said loudly, not wanting to cause a scene but putting feelers out to see if anybody else had been served the same gross concoction. Each person at the table took a turn peering into my bowl and instead of showing sympathy, I was surprised when each one of them let out a laugh. Seeing that I was distressed, one of the women kindly suggested that I speak with the waitstaff. Confrontation wasn't my thing but I could feel the whole table looking at me, wanting to see what I was going to do next.

  “Miss? Miss?” I asked several of the catering staff as they buzzed around. Finally one of the girls made eye contact with me and she had no choice but to come over. “I think I got this as a mistake, a joke maybe?”

  The girl pulled out a paper and assured me that I had specifically requested the dish because of “dietary needs”. It took me only one second to Perry Mason my way to the bottom of the case. From across the room, I saw an amused Rorke, standing and pointing at me while his face reddened from laughter and his mouth openly chewed the delicious salad.

  “I'm sorry,” the catering girl continued, “I'm not sure I can change it now. I don't think...”

  I was just about to give up and figure that I was going to go hungry when one of the men, a salt-and-pepper suave type, motioned the waitress over to him. He very clearly gave her a folded up green bill and she nodded before turning to me.

  “I'll be right back with a fresh salad, Miss” she told me while whisking away the lentil and fish catastrophe.

  “Sometimes, you just gotta ask right,” the man told me with a wink before returning to his own food.

  Though he surely meant it as a kind gesture, I couldn't help but feel at least a little embarrassed. I rudely occupied myself with my phone, keeping my head down as I prayed the moment would end.

  “You and that phone,” my mother's shrill voice darted into my ears before I even had the chance to see her coming.

  “Sorry, it's just...”

  “It's fine, Maddie dear. She's getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, you know," Mother explained to everyone at the table I was seated at. They couldn't have cared less but she continued anyway. "Isn't love great?"

  While I wished I could've corrected her, I was in fact trading messages with stupid Derek. For some reason he was full of questions about the wedding, mostly repeatedly asking me to confirm that I went solo. I get it, he was lonely and using me for attention but it did feel nice to finally have him obsessed with what I was doing, who I was seeing.

  My mother apparently wasn't done talking about this. "Maybe we'll be at their wedding next!"

  What I hadn't managed to notice in time was that Rorke was standing just off to the edge of my mother and Carmine and heard all my mom had to say about me and Derek. He looked a little stung.

  “Let's all get these pictures over with so you kids can go back to your free meals,” Carmine loudly proclaimed while opening his arms wide for all of us freeloaders to come rest under. My mother was off to Carmine's left and Rorke and I next to each other on the right. We were in plenty close but soon crammed together when Carmine's strong arm squeezed Rorke in tight, pressing me firmly against father and son.

  “Little tighter?” the photographer asked and Carmine obliged. It was as if he was trying to make his son and I merge together and become one, that's how hard he was pressing. I could feel my stepbrother's firm, hard muscles against my body, not an inch of distance between us. My stepfather must have done the same on the other end as I soon heard mom give a playful squeal.

  “Ready...smile!” was all I heard before a blinding white flash exploded in front of us.

  “One more?” Carmine's voice bellowed.

  “Smile,” before another big flash. Once my sight finally returned, I saw that my parents had already moved on to the next table and the only one who had stayed by my side was Rorke. We slowly and awkwardly removed our bodies from being so pressed together, each letting out a tiny, amused chuckle.

  “Guess, I'll go back to my table,” Rorke said while gesturing his thumb towards the other end of the room. “Enjoy your dinner. You're gonna love what I picked out for you.” With that he headed back, confident in believing he had managed to get under my skin yet again.

  After preparing for the worst, the meal Rorke selected actually wasn't all that bad. Stuffed tomato that had a ton of other vegetables and some quinoa. Of course I wouldn't have picked it if I had a choice but there was no way I was going to cause a scene again, needing assistance from some rich dude I didn't even know. I happily ate the tomato dish and made a point to give Rorke a thumbs up from across the room, letting him know his prank had failed.

  As I was eating, to help keep me company, I had placed my phone on my lap, under the table and out of sight. Derek must've been bored because his texts were coming in quite frequently.

  “wish I could dance with you there” he wrote in one text, “we would've had a real good time there together”.

  My fantasy of him being lonely and wanting to be with me dampened when I realized he just might want the chance to get in good with Mr. Fratelli. If I were to believe
him, he wanted to be with me but I knew that was too good to be true. My new powerful stepfather might actually be able to be used as leverage with Derek, might help convince him to let me move in. It bothered me a ton to have to resort to deceit and manipulation but if I didn't learn how to act like that, I'd have no home. And I did feel nice to feel wanted by someone I wasn't related to, even if it was a sham.

  “I feel bad for you, that guy Rorke seems like he's such an asshole.”

  That text from Derek came out of nowhere and brought me right back down to reality. He didn't even know Rorke and here he was, just like everyone else, believing terrible things about a complete stranger. This was the judgmental Derek I knew well and always disliked. My phone went back in my purse, he had used up all of my goodwill and I was done talking to him, at least for the rest of the wedding. Just as my purse was about to close and the clasp ready to be secured, my phone lit up again. Of course it was Derek.

  “we should meet up sometime soon. come to my place and we can talk.”

  My heart fluttered upon reading it and I hastily closed that purse tight, knowing that decision was too important to make while emotional. I knew what I wanted and what I needed, I just had to somehow figure out to make those two the same.

  Any hopes for some fun dance music was squashed when out trotted a full-on band, members who were the oldest people I had ever seen. They sat behind their instruments and played that old-timey kind of music I only knew as novelty. This is the kind of music I was used to hearing in cartoons or black-and-white movies, it was background music. It didn't do much for me and three hours of it was going to drive me up the wall. Knowing that this place had several banquet halls and potentially a more fun outside, I decided to go explore and do some people watching. As soon as I reached one of the exits, I found I wasn't the only one who had had that idea.

  “Let's go find something to do,” Rorke told me before reaching out and holding the door open for me. My plan was only to observe the other weddings from afar but his famous cheeky smile let me know he had a little mischief on his mind.

  *****

  ROUND FIFTEEN

  *****

  Rorke

  God, my dad's wedding was so boring. On top of not really knowing anyone there, the only person close to my age was my dear stepsister and she was sitting all the way across the room. When she informed me that there wouldn't be any booze at the reception, I had half a mind to take off before they even served dinner. The only reason I didn't was because I hadn't given up on the prospect of having some fun with Madelyn.

  In order to entertain myself, I was able to sweet talk one of the waitresses into messing with Madelyn's order. I just wanted to see her face when she got a bowlful of fish lentils. It played out as I had hoped, her reaction let me know I got her good. After she tackled her modified main course with a smile, I knew I needed a little more entertainment to sustain me for the rest of this boring party.

  I kept an eye on her the whole reception, looking for any opportunity to be near her. There was a family picture where we squeezed together tightly; our bodies pressed firmly together as we forced smiles. After I made sure to fully enjoy my fat steak, I tried to come up with a plot to get us together again. When I saw her head for the door, I raced to go meet her there and convince her to ditch the reception all together.

  While I knew she very well could just be heading off to the bathroom, I hoped that my sudden suggestion may actually interest her into getting out of there. A long shot but one worth taking. I was more than pleasantly surprised when she agreed.

  As we walked through the hallway outside the boring reception, we immediately noticed that several other rooms were audibly bumping with better parties than the one we had been at. Thankfully, one of these weddings posted a bar station outside of the room, able to be accessed by just about anyone.

  "Drink?" I asked Madelyn and she didn't respond. As she stared off into space, I took a moment to get a good eyeful of her beautiful body wrapped up in that peach dress. It clung to her curves and showed me the figure I had been dreaming about for weeks. Her brown hair playfully bounced on top of her exposed chest and covered shoulders as she moved her head, pondering my proposal.

  "I really shouldn't..." she started to say, annoying me greatly. Without waiting for her to flip back and forth any longer, I ordered us two flutes of champagne in the hopes she would turn around.

  "Sir, this is for members of the Vegado wedding only," the well dressed bartender rudely pointed out.

  "Rorke, don't, it's wrong," Madelyn chimed in, terrified of getting in any sort of trouble. Not having much money didn't stop me from flashing around the little that I did have. Upon seeing the twenty dollar bill I had ready in my hand, the smart bartender looked both ways and quickly poured two glasses full of the bubbling white stuff, handing them over rather quickly.

  While I was quite proud of what I had accomplished, Madelyn looked at me with a horrified expression as I attempted to hand her one. Of course Miss Goody-Two-Shoes wouldn't even dream of sneaking alcohol that wasn't meant for us. I, however, didn't see the problem and proudly downed one after the other to show her nothing bad was gonna happen.

  "Alright, now what?" I asked her as the alcohol burned down my throat. She offered no suggestions and just stood there with an indignant look of obligation across her face. Hearing the other wild parties going on was too much for me to ignore and I did my best to try and get her interested in them as well. She showed no indication that my attempts were working, as was her way.

  "Wanna check out one of these other weddings? That one sounds like a lot of fun."

  Madelyn's face contorted wildly in disbelief. "Rorke, no. We shouldn't. We can't crash someone else's wedding. Let's just go back."

  Maybe it was the booze rushing to my head or maybe it was just frustration at watching this beautiful girl hold herself back from life. Whatever it was, I was finally done with it.

  "What's your deal?" I asked her bluntly, "Why do you hold yourself back from literally everything?"

  She got snippy, telling me, "No I don't. You don't know me."

  "Uh huh. You were gonna eat the fish lentils because you were too afraid of confrontation. You would rather be in pain if you think it's an inconvenience to someone or better yet, because it goes against some imaginary rules. Live a little! It's sad to watch you hold yourself back all the time."

  My punch had landed and she struggled to withstand the blow. With her eyes blinking rapidly and her face scrunched in a tight scowl, she again let me know that I didn't "know her" and that she was actually a lot of fun.

  "I'm going back to my mother's wedding. You do whatever you want," she told me angrily before storming off, her tightly wound ass swaying hypnotically as she marched down the hall.

  Once she left me, I was forced to find some fun on my own. I felt I had a point to make, to prove to my stepsister that she had prevented herself from having fun again, that she missed out on another good time.

  By dumb luck, two giggling bridesmaids passed right by me, on their way back to one of the fun parties. Without hesitation, I raced to get the door for them, pulling it open and giving them my most seductive eyes.

  "Ladies," was all I said, causing them both to blush once they realized who I was. After they passed over the threshold, I followed close behind, the closing door at my back as I surveyed the room in search of some trouble to get in to.

  Flashing lights pulsated and slightly illuminated the dance floor, the whole party under the hypnosis of the talented DJ behind the speakers. This was like the hottest club in town, people dancing very suggestively with each other as the booze flowed and music pumped. It wouldn't be entirely easy to blend in, my notoriety followed in front of wherever I went. The increasing stolen glances and mouths pressed to ears soon let me know that the jig was up. There was no choice but to own it, give a couple of proud waves to the strangers gawking at me and show I wasn't going to be any trouble. I had crashed their wedding but
I wasn't going to be rude. Just checking out the scenery.

  Just as I was plotting on how I could sneak onto the dance floor and make a few new bridesmaid friends, the music cut out. Assuming security was coming to take me away, imagine my surprise when I heard a familiar song playing over the PA system.

  Back to the wall, one man shall stand. Rise above and conquer them all.

  Was this a coincidence? It wasn't exactly a fun, danceable song so why would the DJ play it? I looked over to the DJ for an answer and I soon realized that it wasn't a happy accident. Standing before the DJ booth was none other than my play-by-the-rules stepsister, upsetting the dancing fun of the party by convincing the DJ to help her try and pull one over on me. She had certainly succeeded, I was breathless, amazed at her stunt. Madelyn was just as delighted, hamming it up in front of the confused wedding guests as she bounced around to the sounds of my song. After hearing me play it night after night, she had come to realize that this song was important to me. I let her have her moment to enjoy her stunt and knew that there was only one proper way for me to proceed.

  With the confused guests still looking on, I started towards my stepsister, walking between tables as though I was on my way into the ring. Instead of the intimidating appearance I planned on putting on before my fight, I instead had fun with it, walking towards the “ring” as though I was a professional wrestler heading to the main stage. Lucky for me, the crowd of strangers ate it up. They started hooting and hollering as I made my way towards my stepsister and I proudly showed off for them. They clapped along to the beat as I showed off my gym-trained muscles and a large smile to show off just how proud I was of Madelyn for breaking out of her shell.