Chapter 10

We flew in on Thursday morning to get accustomed to the heat and time differences. Darcy had again gotten involved and the team was staying on the strip at Bally’s, the same place they kept a suite for times they didn’t want to drive home. The girls all shared rooms, the coaches had their own and I stayed in the suite. It was nice to be in Vegas but this time I felt more like a visitor than a resident.

Patty found out about the large two-bedroom suite with living room and kitchen. After dinner, the entire team, all twelve girls and Brenda the trainer, were spread out around the living room hanging out. I knew all the girls from practice and previous games but most were just their names and enough recognition to say “Hi” in passing.

I knew Patty, Brenda, Tia, Ashley, and a few others that had been to morning workouts and we were all comfortable around each other. I was getting a soda out of the minibar when one of the girls, Jennifer, asked, “What are you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be taking care of equipment or something?”

Before I could speak, Tia said, “This is his room. We just kind of invaded his space. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to be around him Jennifer.”

Jennifer was one of the juniors on the team and was also one of the best spikers. “Why does he get this huge suite and I have to share my room with a sophomore? This doesn’t seem fair.”

Tia, the captain said, “Because he’s from Vegas and this is a suite rented by his family all year long. He’s just kind enough to let us share in his good fortune and relax here. So, either chill out or leave.”

Jennifer wouldn’t let it drop and had to get in one last dig to try to get some girls on her side. “Well, it must be nice to have a rich daddy that can give you whatever you want.”

Patty was up out of her chair and tackling Jennifer before anyone could stop her. Luckily, she was pulled off before she could land her first punch. Jennifer was about to get back at Patty but she, too, was restrained. I said, “Since we are all enjoying this room maybe we should take the hotel van and go visit my dad and thank him. Maybe we can even leave some flowers next to his headstone. I haven’t been out to the cemetery in a long time.”

Jennifer changed her expression to one of surprise as all the other girls shot her daggers with their eyes. Jennifer said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

A girl named Mandy that I didn’t know very well tried to break the tension in the room and said, “We have all day here to chill out. It seems like we have new people on the team and some that I’ve played with for a couple of years but don’t know that well. We should play truth or dare. Jack you’re first.”

“Truth?”

“What happened to your father?”

It took a while for me to tell the story about the hiking and disease that caused his death but most of the girls were compassionate about what had happened. When I was done, I turned to Jennifer who started the whole mess and she also chose “Truth.” I asked, “What is your major and what made you pick that field?”

She was expecting something more personal that could be used to embarrass her. She saw that I was extending the olive branch to her and he face softened at the offer. “I am working on a degree in marketing. I’ve always been creative and somewhat artistic so I thought that it would suit me well.”

There were fourteen people in the room and after three or four rounds, there were no “Dares” done. It was a time for the team to bond and get to know each other better. The only one that came close to embarrassing was when there was a string of questions about dating. One girl came out as a lesbian and of course Patty as a bisexual sex kitten. She didn’t go into much depth but said that she’d had sex with both men and women but had one man that she answered to in the relationship department.

The meeting was more about finding out about each other than digging into one person’s sex life. They were starting to care about each other as people as well as teammates. When the girls got up to leave so they could be in their rooms in time for curfew, Jennifer came over and again said that she was sorry for her remark about my father and gave me a hug. She did the same to Patty before they both left to be in their rooms on time.

The coach knocked on my door and after she knew I was in the room and alone, she said it was a nice room and left for the night. The next morning, I was up at 3am. That equates to my 6am wake up on the east coast. I knew that I wouldn’t be getting back to sleep so put on my shoes and went for a run. The sidewalks in Vegas are wide and at 3am they’re empty except for some drunken girls and guys trying to make their way home for the night.

The casino was still loud with bells and whistles as I walked through on the way to the elevator. It was much quieter than earlier in the evening but still making noise. When I got on the elevator, there was a woman about thirty years old getting on at the same time. She was a little drunk or seemed so. I said hello and she replied, “Looks like someone could use a shower.”

“It looks like a couple people in this elevator could use a shower. They could also save on water and take one together.”

She got a silly smile on her face. “I sat around that club drinking until 3am waiting for a decent guy to hit on me and I finally find him in the elevator after I’d given up.”

“Do you just want a quick fuck to take the edge off so that you can fall asleep or do you want me to wear your body out until you beg for mercy and I let you fall asleep? Decide now because once we start there is no changing of your mind.”

The bell dinged as the elevator stopped at her floor. She looked me up and down like a piece of meat. I was wearing a half shirt so she could see my six pack abs and the small trail of hair that ran from my belly button down into my shorts. “Wear me out.”

I never did learn her name, why she was in town or anything else about her. I did wear her out and left her room wearing a towel and carrying my dirty clothes and shoes along with my room key about 5:45. When I left, she was naked, face down and passed out on the bed with no sheets or blankets on the bed. I did put the “do not disturb” sign on the door as I left.

As I stepped off the elevator, Jennifer was stepping out of her room and into the hall. She looked me up and down and said, “Our whole team is on this floor. I wonder where you’re coming from?”

“I woke up early and went for a run. I got a little hot and sweaty. I didn’t want to drip on the carpet. I’m going to shower now. You can hang out in the suite if you want or go for a walk. It’s hot out but still a nice time to see the strip.”

“I need some coffee and the team breakfast isn’t until 8am.”

“I can order up some coffee or you can go to the coffee shop in the lobby. Either is fine with me. I’m going in to shower and change.”

“Would you mind?”

“No, come on in. I could use some coffee as well.”

After dropping my dirty clothes, I picked up the phone and ordered three pots of coffee with cream and sugar, a tray of fruit and a tray of pastries. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and freshly showered when the food and coffee arrived. It was just the two of us.

She said, “I hate traveling to the west coast. My body clock always wakes me up so early.”

“3am for me. I wonder how many others have been staring at their ceiling for a few hours now.”

She went to the desk and wrote six notes that said that we were up and in my suite. She slipped out and slid them under the door of all the girl’s rooms. All but three girls returned with her. They were all just counting the minutes until it was time for breakfast. They were all grateful that I had coffee and food and thankful to Jennifer for thinking of them.

The team was bonding and in a good way. Patty had given me a good morning kiss and hug that left little to the imagination. No one was wondering just how close we were off the court. As we sat around, Jennifer asked, “I don’t want this to come off in a negative way but Jack, can you tell us about what caused you to be a part of our team? It doesn’t look like you need the money for helping out that most equipment managers get for the work they do.”

After weighing my options, I decided to come clean. “Some of the girls know all or part of my story. It might be better if I just tell it so there aren’t false rumors floating around. Stories grow as they go from one person to the next.

“I met Tia and Ashley a couple summers ago, at the women’s volleyball camp. I was working for Bolts and we were in town visiting the school. Later that summer, I started the beach volleyball tournaments. That’s when I met the high school volleyball player, Patty. I still work for Bolts and still run the summer tournaments but now I have a team that works on the tournaments year-round. Patty and I played a match against some past Olympians to give some of the new camera crew and announcers some practice for the tournaments. Coach saw the match and remembered me helping at the summer camp. Thus, she asked if I would help. I like volleyball and love Patty. I knew Tia and Ashley and said that I’d help the team. I do the towel boy stuff but also help you by being a strong blocker and spiker for you to practice against.”

Jennifer quickly asked if she could work at the tournaments during the summer. Others asked as well. I shrugged and said, that if there were things that they could do then they could have jobs doing them. Then I added, “A few girls have used their summer experiences to enhance their resume or even get full time jobs with Bolts. This isn’t a cake walk but a hard job in which much is expected. You can ask Patty or Tia the saying while we run the tournaments.”

Tia, Patty, and Ashley all said together, “We’ll have plenty of time to sleep when we’re dead.”

They all laughed but Ashley said, “It is a lot of work and a lot of fun. The experience is worth it all and I’ve already been hired for this summer. There’s a lot of money spent to put these on. It isn’t like a weekend game at the beach. People fly in from all over the world and spend their life savings to compete. The matches will be on TV or some of them will. You don’t want Bolts to look bad so you work your ass off and the better they look, the better you look.”

Tia added, “Kim, a girl that played for UT Chattanooga was my boss last year running the state of Florida tournaments. She was right out of college but had worked with Jack the summer before. He told me what she was making and it got serious very quickly. She didn’t want any mistakes and had everything down to a science. There were problems that came up and they got fixed in a hurry. It wasn’t until the beach looked better than when the first person stepped on it before the tournament that she felt like the job was complete. Then she let us rest for a day before we were off to the next location to do it all again.”

“There are also jobs in the marketing department. We can stop by the office while we’re in town if you’d like,” I added.

“Yes, yes please,” a couple chimed in.

The girls all staggered back to their rooms to clean up and get dressed for the real breakfast at 8am. We played the first match at 11 against Stanford and beat the Cardinals in straight games. We stayed around and watched UCLA play against UNLV to see what their strengths and weaknesses were. We all sat together but some of the girls from Stanford came and sat nearby and talked with our team as well. We wouldn’t play them again so it was all friendly conversation. They were staying in our hotel as were the girls from UCLA but just on different floors.

After the match, we had lunch and everyone looked at me about what to do. I had the suite and I knew the town. I told them to get their bathing suits if they’d brought them and shorts if they hadn’t and to meet me down front in thirty minutes. I made a few phone calls and talked to the concierge. Thirty minutes later, they were all at the hotel entrance as well as the coach and one of the girls from Stanford. It seems that she was hanging out with one of our girls that she knew from high school and invited herself along.

Lisa was free spirited so she fit in well and just went with the flow. Two vans pulled up and we all drove out to Britt and Darcy’s house. As we passed by the guard gate, Patty asked, “Is this where you live?”

“This is the street I live on but we are going to Darcy’s house to use the pool and hang out. She has a movie room, pool table and a pool with a slide.”

The girls all oohed and aahed when we arrived. I’d called Darcy to let her know and she’d let Mom know so they were both there to greet us. Britt was golfing and Karen was at work. My sister, Mary, was at school. Lilly let us in and Darcy showed them all around. She had them all in new bathing suits including the coach and the girl from Stanford, Lisa.

After things settled down and the girls got comfortable I told Patty to go ask Lilly for a massage. She looked at me and then just obeyed. The other girls didn’t know what was going on when they saw Lilly leading Patty by the hand into the pool house. It was about forty minutes later that they heard Patty moan out an orgasm. She wasn’t even blushing when she walked out wearing just her bikini bottoms and said, “Whoever’s next for a massage, it’s your turn. She’s amazing.”

Nobody moved but finally Mandy looked at me and I nodded. She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be next,” as she ducked into the pool house.

After that most of the girls took a turn but the massages got shorter to accommodate the entire team and Lisa as well. Most were just tugging up their bottoms when they returned to the pool area and were carrying their tops. It sounded like most asked for a happy ending. Lisa certainly asked for one and was almost beet red when she emerged with a big smile on her face. She asked coach, “Do you take transfers?”

Everyone laughed at her joke and the girls all had fun and got along. Coach didn’t go in for a massage but she, Darcy and mom went over to see our house for about an hour during the day. There was a lot of sun screen applied that day and the girls didn’t stay in the sun too long without checking for burning. In the end, it was a fun and relaxing day.

We had a late dinner and the girls wanted to get out and see the strip that night. They all wanted to go see some magician and after Darcy made sure they had great seats, I gave up my ticket to Lisa since I’d seen him a few times and wasn’t a huge fan of magic shows.

I was just wandering in when I ran into another woman while in the elevator. She was checking in and had her luggage with her. I think she was just trying not to tip the porter because her bags were hard for her to handle. I helped her get them to her room and offered to buy her a drink and welcome her to Vegas once she got settled. She wanted to say “no” but at the last minute, agreed.

She either debated for a while or just took a long time to get settled. I was on my third sparkling water with lime when she walked into the bar.

As she walked towards the table I smiled and stood to greet her. My mind went back to my teacher and her husband as well as Patty’s encouragement to let my Alpha Male side stretch his legs. I didn’t know who she was or what she was into but I was walking in with an open mind. I introduced myself as she sat down and I flagged down the waitress to order my new friend, Annie, a drink.

We talked about her and why she was in town. She said, “I’m a librarian from Miami and am in town for a convention that starts on Monday. I am meeting a friend of mine that works at a library in Jacksonville. We decided to come in a couple days early and explore the city.”

As I smiled at her she asked, “What?”

“Nothing; I was just thinking about a theory I’ve had about librarians and teachers. I don’t have enough evidence to write a paper about it but it is a fun thought to kick around from time to time.”

“Now you have to tell me your theory. I can tell you if it is true for me. I can’t speak for teachers or other librarians.”

She’d already put quite a dent in her margarita and I signaled the waitress for another round for both of us. I looked at her eyes and said, “I don’t know about all librarians but I’ll tell you my fantasy or theory. It is my theory that most librarians love to read. Readers tend to be people that escape into their minds to bring the book to life. If you just read words, the reading is boring but if you can live the characters in your mind then you can truly enjoy the books.”

“Well, that is kind of simple but I would say that it’s true for most librarians. We do love books.”

“That is the first part. The second part is that they hide behind the books.” The drinks were delivered and the empty glasses removed. Annie took a big sip of her second drink while I continued. “They hide behind the books but would love to make them a reality because they are already so vivid in their minds. This would be true with the historical dramas where they dress up and attend fancy balls. It would also be true for the romance novels where a woman is treated like a sex object as the man takes her and makes her his.”

Her second drink was almost empty and her head was nodding oh so slightly even though no words came to her mouth. She sat there looking at me.

“Is that a, ‘Yes, you just read my soul now get me another drink?’ Is that, ‘I have to get out of here now?’ or is that, ‘Take me to my room and make me your little fuck toy for the night?’” I said slowly.

I sipped my soda while I waited. Her mind was churning. Her neck was red as she blushed. She took one last swig of her drink finishing it. She looked across the room towards where the elevators were. I spoke, “Do you want your characters to come alive, little one? Do you want to make your fantasies come true? You probably read Moby Dick at the library but some trashy romance novel when you get home in bed, don’t you?”

Barely a whisper escaped her lips, “Yes, Sir.”

She fidgeted in her chair as I ignored her and settled the bill. As I stood and started moving to the elevator, I said, “Come, Little One,” and she followed. I took her hand so she would be reassured. I asked, “So is my theory true just for you or most librarians?”

“I don’t know of any others but maybe I should propose it as a topic at next year’s convention. Many of us are shy and introverted. We hide behind books, our desks, and our jobs. You’re a dream come true. As much as I wanted to say ‘no’ to the drink, I wanted your face and your body as if I was reading a book. I was going to be happy having a drink and bragging to my friend Sandy about meeting a guy and having him buy ‘Me’ a drink. Now I don’t know what I’ll tell her.”

“You’ll figure something out. I only have a few hours. The chariot turns into a pumpkin at 11 when I have other obligations. I’ll be here tomorrow and part of Sunday. You may want me to meet your friend or not. We’ll see how happy you are with your fantasies moving from your mind to your bed.”

The ding of the elevator was like a period at the end of my sentence as reality was upon her and she followed me to her room. There were two queen size beds. She must have tried on all the clothes she had before coming down to meet me because they were everywhere. I sat in the chair by the window. I spoke quietly bit clearly. “Little One, I want you to take every piece of clothing you brought and either fold it and put it in a drawer or hang it in the closet. Put your make-up bag in the bathroom and put your suitcase in the closet or out of the way.”

Her face showed that this wasn’t part of her fantasy but even though I hadn’t raised my voice, she knew that it was a command and not a suggestion. She was embarrassed as she picked up clothes from the floor and bed. She folded and hung things up. When she was done, she stood at the foot of the bed and waited. I told her to get a towel from the bathroom. She was quick as she moved to get one and return.

She stood still holding the towel as I slowly walked around her in a circle as if inspecting a statue in a museum. My fingers slowly unbuttoned her blouse and as each button released her blouse spread to reveal her chest and white cotton bra. I untucked the shirt from her skirt and let it hang from her shoulders. Circling again, I stopped and removed her shoes, no socks or hose, just low heeled sandals. My hand ran up the back of her calf and she seemed to be in good shape.

The skirt stopped just above her knee and I thought that if this is the sexiest thing she brought with her, she’s in true need of some loving. I stood and gazed into her eyes as I undid the clasp and zipper that held the skirt on her hips. It dropped to the floor. My eyes never left hers. “You’re doing well Annie. You’re being a good girl and I’m pleased with you so far.” My hands took the shirt from her shoulders and she remained standing in bra and panties, both cotton, both white. I handed her the blouse and said, “You can put these clothes away as well. No need having them clutter the floor. Go ahead.”