I looked down between my legs. “Can you get the job done in fifteen minutes?”
She didn’t answer, just popping her eyebrows at me and bending back to her work. Turns out she was very good at her job, and I was wearing a dreamy little smile by the time we made our way down to dinner
We politely declined invitations to cards and movies in one of the other girls’ rooms, and they didn’t push much, settling for knowing smiles.
It was an amazing experience, being able to stretch out, really enjoy each other without worrying about sliding off onto the floor. It also somehow felt very adult, like we weren’t just kids fooling around, but real partners making love.
We didn’t go for too long, though, what I’d said on the bus was true. But my body still felt like Jell-O as we cuddled in post-coital bliss.
I nuzzled into her neck. “Think the hotel would notice if we smuggled this bed back to campus?”
“Probably, but we could try. Strap it to the top of the bus.” I giggled and kissed her neck while she ran her fingers through my hair. God that felt amazing. “Still, there could be options.”
“Mmm, like what? You think they have dorm rooms with queens?”
“No.” Mitch’s voice was serious, and I knew she wasn’t kidding around. “But they have apartments.”
I opened some distance so I could turn and look at her. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, rolling onto her side facing me. “Yeah. It’d give us a real bed, for one, and a kitchen. You have no idea how much I’d like to have my own stove and oven.”
“Mitch, I don’t have a car.”
“I’ll drive you. And there’re plenty of complexes on campus bus lines. Students do it all the time.”
I wanted to say yes, so badly, but my practical, economical brain was whirling with all the obstacles. Money was first and foremost. Would an apartment cost more than the dorms? I’m sure the answer to that was yes, but by how much, I didn’t know. Some of my scholarships could be used for something like that, but some others I wasn’t sure about. And then there were my parents.
Mitch saw my hesitancy and misread it. “If it’s too fast…”
“No, sweetheart, I’d love to. I really would. I love you. I just have to figure out the details.”
Some of those details cleared up two weeks later, when Coach Holiday called me into her office.
“I’ve pried free a quarter scholarship for you.”
“Really? I thought…”
Coach held up her hand. “Cindy, you’re turning into as much of an assistant coach as you are a player. And I want the new ladies to know you’re a scholarship player. It’ll help with credibility.” She gave me a little half smile. “And it’s not any of their business how much of a scholarship you have.”
I grinned back. “Got it, coach.”
She sat back. “So, how are you and Kirkpatrick? Looks like you’re getting along.”
I blushed and nodded. “Yeah. We’re great.”
“Good. I stay out of my player’s relationships unless they’re causing problems.” She glanced toward the locker room, where Heather and Justine had had their first public fight yesterday. “Just be careful.”
***
“We can do it.”
Mitch’s face lit up, which made me smile. But it only lasted for a second. “Good, so what’s still wrong?”
“Umm…” I hemmed and hawed for a moment.
“Your family?”
I nodded, looking down. “Look, we can afford a studio, maybe a cheap one bedroom, which has to be furnished. If my parents ever saw that, with only one bed, how would I explain that?”
“Yeah, how could you explain it?” There was disappointment and hurt in her voice, and I knew why. It was easy to explain. All I had to do was come up with the courage to tell my parents that I was in a wonderful relationship with another woman, one I loved dearly and made me sublimely happy, and that I was going to live with her.
But the revelation to my parents of any of these facts filled me with a bone deep terror. I felt like a coward, and my eyes filled with tears. Mitch closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Damn, Cindy, I’m sorry.” I let her pull me into her arms and hold me.
“No, it’s my fault. I should tell them.”
“Yeah, but not until you’re ready. And I don’t think you are yet.”
I sobbed harder. Mitch just held me and stroked my hair until I stopped. She looked me in the eye. “Cindy, I don’t know what it’s like to live in a closet. I never have. And I’ve got no concept of how scary it would be to lose a parent because of who you are. But I am here, and I love you, and I want to be with you, no matter what.”
“I love you, too. I love you so much. I never knew I could be so happy. But…”
“But what if?” I nodded, and Mitch continued. “Okay, what if? Could your parents order you home? Pull you out of school? Are they paying for any of this?”
I shook my head ‘no’.” She was right. I was an adult, and my father couldn’t stop me from doing what I wished. My father’s name was on my savings account, but I could fix that. And I should, soon, just in case. But, other than a place to live during breaks, there wouldn’t be anything they could do to punish me, besides them cutting me off, maybe taking me out of the will. Oh, and my insurance and phone. Mitch and I getting our own place would solve the first part. I would just have to decide if I could live with the rest.
***
Mitch and I hunted for apartments in our minimal time off, eventually settling on a little one bedroom with a tiny six-foot square bathroom and a bedroom that could barely fit a queen mattress and two dressers, complete with a single, minuscule closet.
But the little living room could hold a couch and a desk and a small entertainment center for Mitch’s TV, which she’d gotten last Christmas. The kitchen was actually decent sized, and it was furnished and within our price range.
If the landlord had any issues with two women signing the lease together he didn’t show it, as long as we had the money. Luckily, Mitch’s dad was happy to give us a small loan to cover first and last. The apartment we were actually renting wasn’t ready yet, but all leases started in July, so we wouldn’t be able to move in ’til then anyway.
The season continued, and I inked my spot in the roster at number six singles. If you’ve read Carrie’s story on this site you know Justine and Heather’s relationship imploded about two thirds of the way through the season, which got us all a talking to by Coach Holiday. I remember lying in bed with Mitch that night.
“That’s never going to happen to us, right?”
Mitch pulled me tight. I fit against her so well. “No. They were a round peg in a square hole. We, my love, are made for each other. And I’m never letting you go. You’re all mine, Cindy Spencer.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
God, she made me feel safe, and adored, but never controlled. She made me a better, happier, more all-around person. I was more in touch with my emotions, and experiencing life with her made everything brighter, because she was larger than life. And by some miracle I made her happy. She’d given me her heart, even before I knew I wanted it.
I hadn’t forgotten Mitch’s love language was physical touch, and I wanted to reciprocate what she’d just said, so I turned in her arms and rolled her onto her back. My lips found her neck, right in the spot she loved. I spent half an hour worshipping her body, moving slowly down until I had her firm nub between my lips, and she was shaking in orgasm. I did belong to her, and she belonged to me. We’d been together just over half a year, but my life no longer made any sense without her in it.
***
Eventually the season ended with another SEC championship, and I’d lost only two matches all year. Mitch and I packed up her truck and headed to Savannah for our week with Bridget and Carl.
What Mitch didn’t know was that I had a little something in my bag that she’d never seen before. They took us out to Paula Dean’s Seafood Restaurant, which was amazing, and the next day, which was a perfect, sunny eighty-five degrees, we headed out to the beach on Tybee Island. I wore a pair of knee length denim shorts and a grey tank top. That wasn’t any big deal, it was what I had under it that had my heart racing.
I had never owned a bikini in my life. My mother had absolutely refused the one time I’d asked for one when I was fifteen, and the swimsuit I’d ended up with would have been conservative for a grandmother. The day before we’d left I’d gone to the campus store where they had a selection of items, including bikinis. Of course, they all bore the Georgia logo in some form, and I settled on a black two-piece, with a string top with the ‘G’ on the left breast, and ‘Bulldogs’ in script at the waist.
Bridget and I spread out our blanket. Mitch was wearing a one piece and athletic shorts that framed her long, powerful body. She looked yummy, and I was pretty sure she was going to like how I looked, too.
Mitch looked over at me and nodded toward the shore. “You wanna go down to the water?”
“Sure.” I striped off my top and shimmied out of my jean shorts, standing in the sun, smiling at my lover while her jaw hit the sand.
She was speechless, but Carl wasn’t. “Damn, sis, you look good.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks.” I was pretty sure he was right. I weighed about ten pounds more than I had when I’d gotten to school two years ago, and it was all muscle. My shoulders, legs, and butt were all way more defined than they had been. My tummy was flat and firmer than it ever had been. I felt strong.
In truth though, I’d always known I was attractive. The effect I had on boys made that clear. But now, seeing Mitch look at me with wonder in her eyes, for the first time I felt truly beautiful.
Of course, my brother was no ogre, either, and he got an appreciative coo from his girlfriend when he pulled off his shirt, revealing an impressively muscled torso.