For The Love Of Basketball

by Jenya Tilar

  Chapter 6

  A week goes by just as fast as all the weeks prior and before she knows it Tessa has survived yet another seven days. She sits quietly at the end of her last practice before fall break listening to Coach Lewis talk about the scrimmage they’ll be having when they all return from break. It’ll be the first real game to kick off the season.

  She daydreams about what her week with David will be like while the other girls on the team listen intently to their coach and raise their hands to ask questions about the opposing team and the plays they’ve been practicing for months now.

  When practice is over and everyone is being dismissed Tessa tries to slip away as quick as possible with her teammates but Harriet asks her to stay back for a moment. “Tessa if you wouldn’t mind you can wait for me in my office and I’ll be right there. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

  Tessa’s mood falls as she trudges to Harriet’s office and sits down in the same chair that she did the first day they had practice. She tries her hardest not to let this get her back down to the place she was before that phone call a week ago with David. She’s been accepting his calls since then and listening to how amazing this new guy he’s dating is. It’s been quite refreshing and she doesn’t want to let anything dampen her excitement for the week ahead.

  Harriet opens the door to her office and shuts it softly almost silently before taking a seat at her desk opposite Tessa. “Where were you today?” she speaks immediately getting right to the issue.

  “What do you mean, I was there the whole practice, I haven’t missed a single practice.” To a degree Tessa’s heart break has turned into anger and she isn’t afraid to have a bit of conflict if its warranted. Regardless of everything she has been working really hard to be the best basketball player she can.

  “I know you were here physically and I know you’ve been working hard but that last bit was important. I want you to be ready for this game when we get back from break because I want you to be in the starting lineup. So where were you, not physically but mentally, are you in the game mentally?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got it, no problem.” Tessa gathers all her composure to remain calm and cool. She doesn’t want to reveal how much it means to her to be starting and she has to will herself to stay still and keep her arms to her sides because what she really wants to do is jump up and hug Harriet. Just a bit of the anger returns with the ache in her heart when it sinks in that she absolutely cannot jump up and hug Harriet. “Is that all?” Her voice comes out even harsher than she intended.

  “Not really, no Tessa it isn’t, I’m worried about you.” Harriet gets up and sits down in the chair she’s so close that Tessa can physically feel the pull between them.

  “I’m fine. I was just thinking about spending spring break with my best friend. We’ve never been apart for so long and he just got into his first ever real relationship with a guy from his biology class so I’m just excited that’s all. I’ll be ready for the game and I appreciate you starting me. I won’t let you, I won’t let the team down.” Her words are practiced so that no emotion bleeds through. “I have my last class before break in 20 minutes so I really have to go.”

  “Tessa, I’m sorry, I can tell you’re not really okay and…”

  Tessa cuts her off, she knows she’s not strong enough to sit here and listen to heartfelt apologies that will only destroy the new fragile scabs forming over wounds she’s been carrying around for months now. “It’s okay, I’m okay. I’ll see you after break. Have a good week.”

  Tessa gets up and heads for the door but Harriet grabs her hand as she’s walking away. She squeezes gently and for a moment Tessa squeezes back. No words are spoken for several seconds until Harriet finally let’s go of her hand. “You have a good week too.” Tessa mumbles a thank you and heads out the office door.

  Chapter 7

  Tessa would have to be honest with herself. She has been so happy to see that horrid station wagon pull up and David tumble out of it. She had been sitting on the front steps of her dorm for the last 20 minutes waiting to hear the slightly loud sound of its engine, a noise she had become quite accustomed to over the last couple of years since David started driving. Overcome with joy she gets up to meet David halfway in the parking lot and they hug for a good minute before David draws back and holds her at arm’s length. “Let me look at you Tessa Brown.” David looks her up and down like he’s inspecting her.

  “Do I pass? What are you looking for?” Tessa squirms under David’s grip.

  “Well for starters I’m trying to tell if I can see the glow of hot lesbian college sex on you since I know there’s something you’re not telling me.” He gives her one of his signature looks that says I’m looking straight into you and there’s nothing you can hide.

  She plans to tell him everything anyway but not yet so Tessa just shrugs. “Something has happened but it’s probably not what you imagine. I just want to wait till we’re relaxing somewhere that’s not here before I tell you the whole story.”

  Surprisingly David takes her answer and coaxes her hurry and bring her bag down so they can drive the 20 minutes away to a little bed and breakfast David had found online that even offered a spa service on premises. As Tessa is walking away he calls her back. “Hey Tessa, I love you, and don’t think I’m not going to claim 60 more of those one minute hugs to make it up to my hour long quota.”

  “That’s a deal.” Tessa is still smiling as she bounds up the stairs to get her bag from her room.

  After countless songs all sung along with very loudly, indulgent fast food, and a short siesta on what Tessa and David both have to agree is the most comfortable bed in the world the pair are sitting alone at dusk in an outdoor hot tub.

  David stays silent for a long time and Tessa takes the time to think about what she will say when he asks the inevitable question.

  After several minutes David frames his face with his hands and leans back against the side of the hot tub. “Okay, well you said you were going to tell me what’s going on, do you think I have the patience of a saint?”

  Tessa chuckles and flips water toward David and then as if a crashing tidal wave has hit the shore all the secrets she’s been harboring spill out. She hasn’t told him anything past the first day she met Harriet in front of her dorm.

  “Oh my god, Tessa you have been walking around with your lady boner on display for coach Harriet, kissing her, touching her, letting her touch you and I have not heard a word of it.” David stands up from the hot tub ready to storm off.

  “David, it terrified me, I didn’t know how to handle it and I still don’t, I just shut down. I think I love her to be honest and she has a girlfriend, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “Just stop, save yourself the time and breath. When something terrifies you and you don’t know how to handle it you’re supposed to come to me. That’s one of the things I’m here for. I'm not just some gossip whore asking about your life to get my kicks. I ask because I care.” He dries himself and drapes the towel around his shoulders. “I’ll be in the room.”

  In David’s absence Tessa climbs out of the hot tub and huddles beneath her oversized towel. The fall night air is cool and it makes her shiver but she truly barely notices it. She realizes she has been selfish dropping off the face of the earth from David. She could have let him help her through it but instead she retreated within herself. She thinks f Harriet too, there are so many things that she wants to say to Harriet. Not to Coach Lewis but to Harriet the woman that has captured her heart and body simultaneously.

  Tessa thumbs through the contacts in her phone until she gets to the one she has saved as Harriet with a little heart emoji beside it. All the players on the team were given Harriet’s phone number at the beginning of the practice season in case they needed anything. She’s never used the number but she has spent many moment with her finger hovering over that particular contact.

  Suddenly as if by accident but somehow purposeful accident she brings her finger d
own on the touch screen and her phone begins dialing Harriet’s number. She could hang up but she doesn’t, she puts her phone to her ear and listens to the ringing. Once, twice, three times and then she hears Harriet’s voice. It sounds muffled but it’s definitely her.

  Tessa freezes. Just the sound of Harriet’s voice has given her enough reassurance that no matter what her world is just a little bit better simply because Harriet exists.

  “Hello, is someone there?” Harriet’s voice comes back over the line and something washes over Tessa. A calmness.

  “I’m sorry, I guess I honestly just needed to hear your voice.” Tessa speaks honestly to Harriet.

  “Tessa?” Harriet’s questioning voice has lowered an octave to a soothing softness. She sounds as if she is whispering a lullaby to a sleepy baby.

  “Yeah, I was just feeling bad because I had a fight with my best friend and you’re just the thing that makes me feel better you know?”

  “I do know Tessa. I do.” Harriet’s soft voice has taken on a longing tone

  “What’s going on with us?” It’s the question Tessa has been afraid to ask for fear that it will make Harriet remove herself completely from her life.

  “Tessa, baby, I don’t know, but I know that I think about you constantly and it’s not going away.” Harriet sighs into the phone.

  Tessa is stuck somewhere back on cloud nine reveling in the fact that Harriet just called her baby. After she has recovered from that very nice shock she speaks again. “Can we talk when I get back? I mean really talk? I’m back Friday morning.” Tessa waits with baited breath.

  Yeah, I want to.” It seems as though Harriet is about to say more to her but instead she can hear her muffled voice clearly speaking to someone else. “No…I’m…don’t…it’s not.” Bits and pieces of the conversation Harriet is clearly trying to shield Tessa from come through the line. When Tessa can hear Harriet clearly again she says, “I’m sorry Tessa, I have to go but we will talk Friday, I promise.” She hangs up the phone before Tessa can even reply.

  Tessa is left a bit dumbstruck. She can’t be sure if she should feel positive or negative about the conversation. Harriet wants her too, Harriet can’t stop thinking about her, Harriet called her baby. But then again Harriet was probably hiding the conversation from someone, probably her girlfriend, and she ended so abruptly.

  Tessa decides to try to make amends with David and immediately tell him about the conversation. She walks to the room they are staying in slowly proceeding with caution. She and David have practically known each other their entire lives and she’s never know David to get so mad. Well she will just go straight in and tell him how sorry she is, tell him that she will always come to him first no matter what she’s going through.

  She bursts through the door and literally runs right into David. They both say sorry at the same time and then laugh about it as if nothing has gone wrong between them. They lay down on the bed together and she tells David about the phone call with Harriet. In fact they talk all night about both their new ventures into love and fall asleep in the early morning when the first rays of sun begin to kiss the sky.

  Chapter 8

  Fall break goes by much too fast and before they know it David and Tessa are packing up the old station wagon and heading back to Tessa’s dorm. When they arrive both their eyes are immediately drawn to a huddled up figure on the steps in front of the building. Looking closer Tessa realizes its Harriet. She looks so cute holding two Styrofoam coffee cups and wearing an oversized hoodie with the hood up over her head.

  Tessa’s eyes literally light up. David notices immediately. “Oh my god, that’s her isn’t it? That’s Harriet.” All he needs to do is look at his friend. Tessa nods her head in confirmation. “Um wow Tessa she is hot, I’ve never even looked at a woman and thought that but man your tastes have gotten better since Monica.”

  “Shut up.” Tessa pushes David playfully as she admonishes him.

  “Okay, well go get your girl.” David hugs Tessa and then hurries her out of his car. He drives away quickly after warning her that she had better tell him everything and not wait 3 months to do it either.

  “So, I got you this coffee but it’s probably cold by now, I know I certainly am.” Harriet extends the coffee to Tessa, takes one last drink of her own and throws the cup in the trash bin on the curbside.

  “Thanks, really that was really nice of you.” Tessa takes a drink of her tepid coffee and can’t help but make a little face. “How long have you been here?”

  “An hour, you said morning so I didn’t know when you’d actually be here and I really wanted to surprise you.” Harriet rubs her hands together to warm. “Well it’s quite a brisk fall morning I’d say.” Harriet shivers and seems to shrink down into her hoodie.

  Tessa takes both of Harriet’s hands between her own and rubs them briskly for a moment but instead of letting them go when she’s done she holds onto them bringing Harriet’s fingers to her lips and planting a soft kiss across her knuckles. Tessa isn’t even sure herself where the sudden burst of bold behavior has come from but she’s going to embrace it.

  “Listen, I know we need to talk, I know there is so much for us to talk about but I want you to know that I broke up with my girlfriend and I really want to take you back to my place and love you correctly and thoroughly.” Harriet’s usually light colored eyes have darkened a couple of shades desire plainly revealing itself across her features.

  “Let’s go,” those two words begin a frenzy for the both of them.

  While she drives the short distance to her apartment just off campus Harriet rubs her hand up and down Tessa’s leg going higher each time. Tessa spreads her legs and grips the car seat enjoying the teasing game. As soon as the car comes to a stop at Harriet’s apartment complex then two practically run for the front door with Harriet in the lead pulling Tessa along by the hand.

  As soon as the door closes behind them. Harriet backs Tessa up against it placing her knee right between Tessa’s legs. Her hands roam over Tessa’s body while her lips explore Tessa’s mouth.

  Tessa runs her hands up and down Harriet’s back and pushes herself into the knee between her legs, she sucks Harriet’s bottom lip into her mouth releasing it with a satisfying popping sound. Opposing moans mingle into one becoming hard to tell where one sound of pleasure bleeds into the other.

  Harriet pulls back taking Tessa’s hand into her own. She lowers her eye lids and looks at Tessa through her lashes with a look that makes Tessa’s knees wobble a bit. “Come to bed with me.” Harriet’s voice had become a husky rendition of what she normally sounds like, dripping with desire. She leads Tessa by the hand back to the bedroom and pulls back the covers. She lays Tessa down on the bed and straddles her quickly pulling her shirt and bra off all at once. She leans over Tessa putting her lips on every inch of the skin she finds there finally pulling her already hard nipple into her mouth while her fingers work at the other nipple. Tessa moans and arches her back pushing herself into Harriet. Harriet works her way lower and lower kissing Tessa’s stomach and then the insides of her thighs. Tessa’s hands are already tangled in Harriet’s hair by the time Harriet’s tongue hits her clit. Fireworks explode behind Tessa’s eyes as Harriet uses her tongue in broad strokes to bring Tessa over the edge and then replaces her tongue with her fingers slipping two fingers deep inside Tessa pumping them in and out of her until she explodes again.

  Immediately Harriet straddles Tessa’s fingers and rides them with Tessa leaning up to capture one of Harriet’s nipples between her lips. Tessa rubs her thumb over Harriet’s clit in rhythm with the push and pull of her thrusts in and out of Harriet. When she feels Harriet stiffen she picks up speed thrusting harder and deeper rubbing frantic circles over Harriet’s clit until she collapses breathing heavily upon Tessa’s chest.

  When she has regained a bit of her composure Harriet lifts her head so that she can look into Tessa’s eyes. “I think, no I know, Tessa, I love you.”

  Tessa sm
iles widely and pulls Harriet’s face up to her own connecting their lips in a hard passionate kiss. When the kiss is over Tessa kisses the spot on Harriet’s neck just below her ear and then whispers into Harriet’s ear, “I love you too.”

  Everything is perfect, in this moment the world has stopped and Tessa finally knows what it’s like to truly fall in love. She sighs and runs her fingers through Harriet’s hair thinking with delight about all the things to come for her with Harriet by her side.

  The End.

  Special Bonus Story

  Their Little Secrets

  Chapter 1

  Ashley was sitting in her room going through the new magazine catalog that was being released that month. She was twenty-two years old with long blond hair and light blue eyes. For as young as she was, she had her own career as an online model, making enough money to provide for herself. Though she lived at her mother’s house, it wasn’t because she couldn’t afford her own place. It was because she wasn’t ready to move out on her own. To have her own place and be alone day in and day out.

  The only problem Ashley had was that her stepbrother, Jackson, was moving in with them. He was supposed to start moving his things into the house that evening. She had already told her boss that she would be working more hours, staying shut up in her room more and more.

  The last time Ashley had seen Jackson he was fifteen years old and annoying, always looking for trouble and trying to get her in trouble at every turn. She wasn’t going to let that happen again.

  She heard her phone ringing beside her and put on her headpiece, the mic at her mouth.

  “Hello?” she said into the mouthpiece with a smile on her face.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you’d be able to help us find another model. We’re running out of options for something fresh. I want someone who’s young like you and someone who has an amazing body,” her boss explained in her ear.