Chapter 18

BRENDA AND AMY rode back to Bartley with Ardith. They stopped along the way to have soft delicious kisses, but when they got to Bartley, Ardith dropped the girls off at Amy’s house and went home alone. It was a real pain to leave, but at least she’d have company when she returned to Salter. Amy was so luscious and excited to be with her, she was hard to resist. With Brenda, she didn’t need to resist.

Dennis, Natalie, and Lana were a different situation entirely. She almost invited them to just stay in Salter instead of going back to Bartley. The hug and kiss she’d had with each before they got in their cars left her primed and ready. But she could justify herself all she wanted—the law was still the law. She just hoped she’d moved far enough away to keep temptation at bay.

Once at home, she undressed, showered, and fixed herself a cup of tea. She curled up in her bed, determined to view the recording of the game. It played on her laptop next to her, but she couldn’t focus on it. Her mind kept straying to the yummy kisses her girlfriends and boyfriend had given her.

She had to admit to herself that they were her girlfriends and boyfriend. There was no kidding herself that they were just students she found likable. This was serious. Lana’s kiss was so sweet and hesitant, showing she had less experience than the other three girls but was happy to be learning. Ardith imagined caressing the girl’s breasts as they kissed and felt her hand touch her own breast.

Hard driving Natalie approached kissing the same way she approached the net in basketball. She had a goal in sight and wasn’t satisfied until she’d made her shot. She pressed her entire body against Ardith as they kissed, and wiggled a little to stimulate their breasts. Ardith could just imagine opening her shirt and sucking on her tall girlfriend’s breasts as their fingers found the juicy swamps between their legs. Ardith discovered her own fingers parting the curtains of her sex and spreading the abundant lubricant around her clit. Oh, Natalie!

But then there was Dennis. It was Ardith who had done the pressing when she’d kissed her boyfriend. She could feel the stiffness in his jeans and ground her mound against him, eliciting a low groan as they kissed. Yes, one day soon it would be his cock plunging into her instead of the two fingers that were furiously fucking her own cunt.

“Oh, Dennis,” she moaned as she climaxed. “Fuck me!”

“Seriously?” Natalie whispered in the locker room. “You went to that movie with Dennis!”

“Don’t tell. Besides, I liked it and didn’t mind seeing it again,” Tori said. “Last date and first date.”

“There’s going to be more?”

“If he asks me. I think he will. You know, it was different. There was something special about Dennis choosing that movie because he knew I liked Lady Gaga. But Brandon chose it because he liked Lady Gaga, too. Like we shared that. It was nice.”

“Well, I’m glad, honey. You deserve something nice. I hope he’s everything you want,” Natalie said, giving her former girlfriend a hug. “Now let’s get our heads in the game. We need to be on top tomorrow night.”

“What’s up with the games this week?” Diane asked. “It’s like two little schools right before we start the regionals.”

“I don’t know. We should ask Dennis. There must be something up.”

“Okay, here’s the story,” Dennis said. “The Blue Devils were on our schedule. Yes, they are a 1A school, but they are also undefeated this season. They are coming here to hone their competitive edge against a top ranked 2A school. Yeah, that’s you guys. We’re ranked in the top ten in the state. But these girls have dominated everyone they’ve met so far. We need to be at the top of our game. The Spartans were added this week. This little team is a big threat. Their school is less than half our size and only have eleven on their team. But they, too, are undefeated this year and are looking to up their game against a big school. I think there is a little competition between the Spartans and the Blue Devils to see who can do better against us. They both have a victory in mind.”

“No way,” the girls shouted.

“We’ll have the Blue Devils here tomorrow night. We’ll travel to the Spartans on Thursday. Do not underestimate these teams. I think we learned our lesson against the Wolves, right?”

“They never should have won that game,” growled Diane.

“And they wouldn’t have if we’d been three points ahead instead of two. You’re used to playing so far out ahead of the competition that we don’t need to worry about that last second shot. Well, we do need to worry about it. We have to have a three-point lead to ensure a tie. Four points to guarantee a win. Don’t let up. Every play counts.”

“Yes, sir!”

“What are we going to do?”

“Beat ‘em!”

“How will we do it?”

“Run, run, run!”

“Who are we?”

“Angelines!”

“And one Deviline!” Lana laughed, pointing at Amy.

The team started their shooting drills and Dennis pushed them hard. He’d reviewed the stats on the Blue Devils and they weren’t encouraging. They’d been winning most of their games by twenty points or more, never trailing at the end of a period. They’d handled the Wolves by fifteen points. The team needed to be sharp for this one.

Tuesday, Brandon joined the boys’ team table to be in solidarity with the team. The girls’ table gossiped, of course, and had seen him holding Tori’s hand briefly in the cafeteria line. She blushed and grinned.

“It’s nice,” she said. “Just, everybody, hands-off. This one’s mine.”

The girls had a brief scrimmage right after school, skipping the conditioning exercises. Dennis was happy to get them loosened up and they were looking good. At game time, they came out in their powder blue uniforms as the home team, meeting the Blue Devils in their gold away uniforms. At six o’clock, the tip off was controlled by the Blue Devils. There was a lot of pressing and testing by both teams and no score was made through the first minute of play. Then the ball went to the right baseline corner where a Blue Devil sank a three pointer with nothing but net. Tori brought the ball downcourt, fending off an aggressive full court press and passing to Amy. Amy shot the ball back inside to Tori on a cut and she laid it up and in.

Then it all seemed to fall apart. The tall sophomore on the Blue Devils team sank three more three-pointers before the Angelines managed another score, making it 4-14 with just three minutes to play in the first quarter. Dennis called a time out.

“We’ve got two things that are critical. You need to shut down number 23 in that corner. She’s hit four of four out there. We’ll use the two three zone, but keep an eye on her and make sure that whenever she’s got the ball, she sees nothing but Angelines. Second, they’re closing up the inside. Amy, Tori, Natalie, Diane, we need those three-pointers. Janice, be ready to move in under the net anytime one of them shoots. You can make any missed shot into a basket. And don’t be afraid to get into the middle of them while dribbling. Go for the basket and they’ll foul you. Ready?”

“Angelines!” they shouted, heading back for the floor.

That seemed to turn the tide and Diane sank a three to start the shift. The Angelines finished out the quarter scoring twelve and holding the Blue Devils to none. In the second quarter, the Blue Devils refused to give up, gaining a point on the Angelines to finish the half at 25-24.

The second half was just as tense. The Angelines picked up a stronger lead at 35-29 in the third quarter. Amy had managed four steals, but they’d kept her from getting a shot off. They were holding Tori out as well, but she pulled out four steals and drew a foul to sink two free throws.

In the last quarter, the Blue Devils managed to tie the score at 39 with two minutes to go. Natalie drove for two and picked up the foul to bring the score to 42. The Blue Devils weren’t finished yet. They were determined to stop Natalie and fouled her three times. In a rare occurrence Natalie missed all three attempts. Judith, in for Amy, was a surprise as she grabbed the ball away from a Blue Devil on the inbound pass and laid it in for a final score in the game of 44-41. The Angelines were sweating when they finally made it to the showers.

“Did you know there are only two seniors and one junior on their team?” Amy said as she stepped into the shower. “Most of that team will be back next year! Five freshmen and four sophomores. Including that number 23 who just keeps shooting and sinking them. If we’d picked up on her earlier in the first quarter, we’d have had a bigger lead.”

“If I’d hit my stupid foul shots, we’d have had a bigger lead,” Natalie sulked. “One out of four! I can’t believe it. I’m so sorry.”

“Girl, you hit three threes and six twos. You scored twenty-two points. I’m sorry I wasn’t more help,” Tori said.

“Thank goodness for Janice under the hoop. Four baskets and two free throws saved our bacon,” Diane said. “I’ll be lucky if Northwestern doesn’t rescind my scholarship.”

“Can they do that?” Janice asked, horrified.

“I don’t know. I suppose they can do anything they want.”

“But you had blocks and assists all over the place. That has to be worth something,” Liz said. “Don’t tell me colleges are that dumb.”

“Don’t worry, girl,” Natalie said, putting an arm around Diane. “It will be okay, and you’ll start getting more opportunities. Without your screens, I’d never get inside. You know that’s what they’ve got Roberta doing at State? She’s a starter every game, but all three of her sisters have more points than she does. They get them by letting her put up the screen for them and then driving for the basket. She’s been most valuable player three times.”

“Mmm. Thanks, honey,” Diane said, giving Nat a quick kiss. “Just keep doing what you do so well. We all depend on you.”

“Everybody decent? The coach wants in,” Josie called to the girls.

“We’re good,” they called. Decent rather depended on which girl was answering. The younger girls were all dressed. The seniors, most of whom were or had been Dennis’s girlfriends, were at least in their underwear.

“Good game!” Dennis called out. “We’ve all been called up to the court for half-time of the boys’ game. And believe me, the guys are having even more problems handling this school than we did. The Blue Devil Boys are also undefeated and have a dude on the team who’s nailing three-pointers even faster than the girl number 23. Anyway, the boosters have some kind of recognition they want to do out there.”