Read Entwined - SF5 Online

Authors: Susan X Meagher

Tags: #Lesbian, #Romance

Entwined - SF5 (10 page)

BOOK: Entwined - SF5
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The rhythmic "thump, thump, thump" that continued in the background finally distracted Jamie’s attention and she turned her head to gaze at her partner. "Honey," she called, "you can stop now."

"I’ve…got…a…little…left," she huffed, her sweat drenched bangs flopping into her eyes with each jump.

Jordan was finally able to stand, and she wiped her body down with a towel while she watched Ryan bang away. "I’m guessing she sleeps on a bed of nails," she grumbled, obviously irritated that Ryan could continue.

"Nah," Jamie laughed, "she’s actually kind of a hedonist." They spent a moment staring at the straining woman, both impressed, though only Jamie would admit to it. "She does have a lot of determination, though."

Jordan mumbled something indecipherable and sat down to stretch. Jamie joined her, and after another minute Ryan finally gave out. She flopped down with a wet "plop," stretching out fully on the mat next to Jamie. The smaller woman could feel the moist heat radiating off her body, smell her rich, earthy scent, see the sweat rolling down her skin in tiny rivulets. She wanted nothing more than to strip off her clothes and rub her body all over Ryan’s, but she thought that might be considered slightly rude, so she controlled herself with some difficulty.

After an amazingly short time, Ryan said, "I was gonna do a little ab work. Anybody wanna join me?"

Jordan mumbled an epithet that caused Jamie to gape and Ryan to giggle. "A ‘no’ would be sufficient," the dark woman laughed.

"You’re not human," Jordan groaned, dropping back onto her mat.

"Just what I thought about you when you were kicking my butt yesterday morning," Ryan agreed, as she hooked her feet onto a slant board to do some sit-ups.

Jamie was very pleased that her partner and Jordan were starting to acknowledge that each had some unique talents, for she knew that Ryan would loosen up considerably if her interactions with Jordan became more playful.

Soon Ryan was lost in her own little world, and Jordan continued to sneak quick looks at her as she worked. "So…what’s the story with her?" she finally asked. "She’s obviously a gifted athlete--she certainly doesn’t seem to have a problem with training–why is she a walk-on as a senior?"

"Long story," Jamie said, shaking her head to indicate that she was not going to share the story at the moment. "Ask her sometime when you have an hour."

Jordan didn’t pursue the issue, continuing to cast surreptitious glances at her new teammate. "She’s gonna help us so much this year, Jamie. I’m really glad she decided to join us."

"Why don’t you tell her that?" Jamie asked logically.

Jordan laughed softly, sparing a glance at the smaller woman as she said, "Yeah…I’ll do that sometime."

"So, did you mean it when you said you expect to make the Olympic team?"

Now the cool blue eyes took on a definite fire. "Oh, I’ll make it, all right. I’ve dedicated my life to this, Jamie, and if Ryan can help us nail a few more wins, I should be a lock."

"I hope you make it, Jordan," she said sincerely. "I’ve never known an Olympian."

"Maybe you and the masochist can come to Sydney to watch us," she said with a big smile that chased away every shred of reserve from her face. "Well, I’ve gotta get going," she said, struggling to her feet. "I’ve got a shoot this afternoon."

"Shoot?" Jamie asked, and as the very tall woman looked down at her, a light bulb went off in Jamie’s head. "That’s where I’ve seen you before! You’re in a Gap ad!"

Jordan gave her a devastatingly sexy smile, along with a rather demure nod. "It’s a living," she tossed over her shoulder as she grabbed her gym bag and left the room.

"Ryan," Jamie said as soon as the blonde departed. "Jordan did one of those Gap ads that are up and down Market St. That’s why she looked so familiar to me!"

"Huh," Ryan mumbled, grunting out a few more sit-ups. "Makes sense. She’s got the body and the looks for it."

"You’re right about the body," Jamie mused, thinking back to the leggy blonde. "She’s fine."

"Ooh, are we discovering an affinity for blondes? I thought you were a fan of brunettes?" It was clear that Ryan was teasing, so Jamie felt free to be honest.

"Does it bother you that I um…notice other women?" she asked, fairly certain that it did not, but wanting to be reassured.

"Nope. Not a bit," Ryan decided, throwing her legs to the ground and leaning in to place a sweaty kiss on Jamie’s head. "As long as I get to take you home at night, you can look all you want."

"Not a worry, Tiger," Jamie laughed. "You’re stuck with me."

"I don’t know that I’m stuck
with
you," Ryan disagreed, playfully tweaking her partner’s nose, "but I’m definitely stuck
on
you."

"I prefer to think that we’re stuck on each other." Jamie wrapped her arms around the steaming body and took a deep breath, inhaling her comforting scent. She looked up and crooked a grin at her partner, "You’re so hot and wet, we might be stuck permanently."

"I’ve really gotta stretch after this workout," Ryan advised. "You can help me get finished quicker, though."

For the next fifteen minutes, they worked together, pushing, pulling, stretching and bending Ryan’s flexible body into a series of contortions. The larger woman finally finished by going to the wall and lying down with her head about a foot from the wooden dowels that could be used to hook a slant board onto. She tossed her legs in the air and let them fall to the floor above her head, her now-loose hamstrings allowing her to achieve the position that would normally be difficult for her. "Hook my heels under the fourth bar," she grunted, her voice constricted by the pressure of her body. The bar she indicated was about two feet high, and Jamie managed to get Ryan’s heels under the bar, as instructed. After letting her lats and hamstrings get used to the increased stretch, she asked Jamie to lower her feet down another two rungs. To Jamie’s amazement, the straining woman continued to grunt out, "Down," until her toes touched the ground.

Jamie shook her head, staring at her partner in amused wonder. Ryan’s head was poking up from between her own thighs, her face red from the strain, but otherwise looking perfectly relaxed. "You can do this–and you still felt the need to have a girlfriend!"

Releasing her legs, Ryan stretched out and smiled up at her lover. "No interest," she scoffed. "Besides," she decided, placing a tender kiss on her own hand, "Lefty would get jealous!"

 

Jamie spent the afternoon working with the pro at Olympic that her father had so enthusiastically recommended. Mark was a good teacher, and she was quite pleased with his very positive comments about her chances of making the team. She was humming a little tune when she entered the house, and she looked around for a moment before venturing outside to find Ryan in what was obviously becoming one of her favorite spots.

Her long body was curled up on the wooden arbor bench, her left foot resting on the seat. A notebook was open, resting on her raised leg, and she wore a studious expression on her face as she made notes.

"Hi, Love," Jamie said as she approached, not wanting to startle her.

Ryan let out a sigh and placed the notebook and her pencil on the seat, rising to greet her partner. "Have a good day, Baby?"

"I did. I worked with Mark for a long while at the range, and then we played a round. It’s really starting to click for me, Hon. My confidence is really starting to rise."

"That’s very good to hear," Ryan said, giving her a squeeze.

Jamie picked up the notebook and took a seat, motioning Ryan down beside her. "You seem a little flat today, Babe. What’s on your mind?"

Ryan was absolutely silent for a minute, obviously trying to gather her thoughts. "I talked to Sara today," she said quietly.

Jamie flinched visibly, her whole body recoiling reflexively from the mental image of Sara kissing her partner--an image she had not been able to remove from her memory even though she had only seen the kiss in her imagination. "Talked?" she managed, her voice thin with tension.

Ryan snaked an arm around her partner, pulling her close against her body. "Yes, Babe. I spoke with her on the phone. I wouldn’t think of seeing her again if you weren’t with me."

Surprisingly, Jamie sat up and placed a hand flat against Ryan’s chest, her eyes flashing. "No. That’s not necessary, Sweetheart. I trust you, Ryan. You can see Sara, or any other person that you want to see. I don’t ever want you to feel that you have to get my permission to live your life."

With a slow, gentle smile curling her mouth, Ryan gave her partner a grateful hug. "I appreciate that, Babe. But I don’t have a need to see Sara again. I just called her to try to get a little more info out of her. The good news is that I am pretty confident that she was telling the truth, and that she wasn’t the one who told the girls at school."

"That must be a relief," Jamie said, leaning her head against Ryan’s shoulder.

Just sitting together and listening to her strong, slow heartbeat calmed Jamie, and she felt her equilibrium returning.

"Yeah…though I was already pretty sure I believed her. We just talked about the other girls on the team, and tried to figure out who could have started the rumors."

"What did you come up with?"

"Nada. I’m beginning to think that Mrs. Andrews was right. Maybe the other girls just guessed."

"So are you gonna give up?"

Ryan laughed softly, shaking her head. "Hardly. My mind is made up. I really am going to get to the bottom of this, Jamie. It might take me a while, but somebody knows what happened–and I’m gonna find out. I think my next move is to talk to my old coach."

Jamie tried to recall what she knew about this woman, finding that she didn’t even recall her name. "Have you kept up with her?"

"Nope. The day she told me that it was best if I quit was the last time we spoke privately. She’d say hello when I saw her in the halls, but our relationship was basically over at that point."

"Are you just gonna show up and try to talk to her?"

"No. I don’t want to waste a trip. I called the school after I spoke with Sara, and the person I spoke with said that Coach Ratzinger was running a clinic for high school girls on Friday. I thought I’d go over when it was finishing up. Then she won’t be able to duck me."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Jamie was certain that this was going to be a tough visit for her lover, and she fervently hoped that Ryan would allow her to go along for moral support.

"Sure. I’m a little nervous about having you see me if I act stupid, but you might also be able to help me stay calm."

"Uhh…who’s gonna keep me calm?" the smaller woman queried, just the hint of a smile playing at her mouth. "You’re always more in control than I am."

"Good point," Ryan mused, a matching smile beginning to bloom. "Oh well…if I’m gonna be in jail for assault, there’s nobody I’d rather share a cell with than you."

 

As soon as Ryan finished with her last client on Friday afternoon, they took off for the city, managing to get home quickly for once. The soccer clinic was scheduled from one until six, so Ryan wanted to arrive a little after that in hopes of catching the coach alone. Regrettably, it wasn’t even four, and Ryan was already antsy. "I need to blow off some energy, but I don’t want to run again," she complained.

"I can help you expend some energy," Jamie offered, quirking an eyebrow in her improving mimic of Ryan’s habit. Ryan was wearing a blue and white checked cotton camp shirt, and Jamie teasingly slipped her hand between the top two buttons, scratching the smooth fabric of Ryan’s sports bra.

The larger hand grasped the interloper and gently removed it. "I don’t say this often--in fact, I don’t remember the last time I said it--but I’m not in the mood, Honey. Do you mind?"

"Of course not," Jamie assured her. "I’m not really in the mood either, Babe. I just thought it might relax you a little."

"Have I told you what a wonderful partner you are?" Ryan laced her hands behind Jamie’s neck, gazing at her fondly as she did so.

"You have, Love. You tell me and show me all the time. But speaking of show and tell, I’d really like to get a feel for the person you were when this was all going down. Do you have some pictures from your senior year?"

"I can do much better than that," Ryan assured her. Minutes later they were in Martin’s room, the home of the only television in the house. No one else was home, so they had the place to themselves for a change. Ryan bent before the bottom shelf of the built-in cabinets that held the TV, running her finger across the neatly labeled videotapes that rested on the shelf. "Here we go," she said as she pulled a tape out. She removed it from the sleeve and handed the cardboard to Jamie. "State Championship-Soccer 1992" read the legend.

Ryan popped the tape in, and jumped onto the bed with the remote. Jamie climbed up next to her and cuddled up against her warm body. "We didn’t have a video camera, but every time Da thought the occasion merited it, he would borrow one from one of the guys at work. I think the fellow regretted ever making the offer because Da had the darn thing every other week," she said with a laugh. "This tape is from our final game of my junior year." Jamie noticed that her face had taken on a certain sadness, so she cuddled up a little tighter to offer some comfort. "Now you’ve got to remember," Ryan said with a chuckle, "that the videographer has a certain prejudice."

BOOK: Entwined - SF5
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