Jake and Adrienne - Hanging out

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Baseball and beer act as aphrodisiacs for Adrienne and Jake.



"I do not understand this game at all," Jake said, setting a couple of
beers on the table in front of Adrienne, who currently had her eyes
glued to the baseball game playing on the television. "Who are we
rooting for?"

"The Red Sox," Adrienne answered with a roll of her eyes. "Boston." It was
sad, really, to think that she and Jake could never have a future together
because of his lack of knowledge about baseball. She liked virtually
everything else about him. When he sat next to her on the couch, she shifted
a bit closer, though she refrained from doing the annoying-clingy-girl thing
where she draped herself against him. It might look cute, but peoples'
shoulders were really not good pillows when it came down to it. "How can you
not understand it?" she asked incredulously, taking a beer from the table.
"One team throws a ball to the other team, the batting team has to hit the
ball to a place where there are no people from the other team waiting to get
it, and if he gets around all four bases before someone touches him with the
ball, he gets a point for his team. When the throwing team catches the ball
in the air or touches the runner with the ball three times, they switch
sides. I realize it's not as easy as soccer, but really. It's not that
hard." Of course, she might be biased by the fact that she'd been a fan of
the Red Sox since she was old enough to get over the childish fantasy that
her father was worth looking up to. A girl had to have men she could
worship, after all, and the Red Sox filled that gap for Adrienne.

"No," he said once she was done explaining, "I mean, I know how the
game works. I just don't understand what makes it so interesting.
Basketball is at least interesting to watch, even if you don't know
how the game works--it's fast-paced, and exciting, and they have to
get the ball into a fairly small target. Baseball, though--it's a
bunch of guys standing around watching another guy hit a ball, and as
long as it goes anywhere in front of him, everyone's happy. What's the
fun in that?" He grinned at her; he was mostly kidding, although given
the choice he'd watch basketball in a heartbeat.

"It's interesting because it doesn't require one hundred percent
concentration," Adrienne answered, sipping at her beer. "You can do other
things while you watch it without feeling like you're missing out, even take
a nap, because it's not all action, all the time. And also because it looks
like something anyone can do, so it's easier to relate to. I can't jump five
feet in the air and I resent people who can," she explained, "I can't make a
soccer ball bend in the air or tackle a runningback. But I can throw a ball,
and I can swing a bat, even if I can't do it anywhere as well as the
professionals can. So I can relate to it. And the players don't look as
frightening as a lot of professional basketball players," she added with a
smirk.

"Wait," he said, incredulous, "you like baseball because you can
take a nap in the middle of the game and not miss anything?
You," he said, nudging her playfully, "have some very strange
priorities." He shook his head. "And basketball is absolutely the game
of the people--look at Hoop Dreams, or Hoosiers--all you
need is a hoop and a ball. You don't have to be able to jump, or dunk.
I'll show you sometime."

The brunette nudged him back "You can do a lot of things, not just nap. And
baseball is 'America's Pasttime', not basketball, therefore I think baseball
is the game of the people. Plus," she added, nudging him again, "you can
make your damn arms longer, so of course you'd be able to dunk even if you
can't jump!"

"I'm not Stretch Armstrong!" he protested. "These things take time.
It's not like I'm the incredible stretching man or something." He
settled back on the couch. "So, other than getting your beauty rest,
what sorts of things can you do while watching a baseball game? Grade
papers, maybe, or read War and Peace, or something equally
exciting?" he teased.

"Pity about the stretching thing," Adrienne smirked wickedly. "That could be
really useful. You can do basically anything you want while watching a
baseball game," she countered playfully. She shifted a little bit closer.
"Use your imagination, Stretch."

He quirked an eyebrow at that. "I didn't say I couldn't stretch at
all," he murmured, leaning in close. "Bones are hard, though."
He maintained eye contact with her, daring her to shy away as he moved
to within centimeters--then sat back triumphantly as his fingers
closed around her beer. He took a long swig of it, giving her a
triumphant look around the bottle.

"Okay, I meant use your imagination to do anything except steal my beer,"
Adrienne whined. "You have your own beer, what's so great about mine?" She
wrapped her hand around the beer, pulling it away from Jake's mouth and
replacing the bottle with her own lips.

"It got you to do that," Jake said, smiling against her mouth before
kissing her more deeply. He threaded one hand into her hair, the other
one staying chastely on her waist, for now.

Enjoying the kiss thoroughly, Adrienne melted against Jake, momentarily
distracted from the ball game. "Have I sparked your imagination about what
you can do during a baseball game, then?" she teased when she pulled away
for air, then placed a hand on the back of his neck to draw him forward
again into another kiss. She pushed the nagging thoughts about why she was
doing what she was doing out of her mind and focused on enjoying herself
instead. The crack of a bat on screen had her pulling away in a hurry,
however, and turning back to the television to watch the play. "Damnit!"

Of course. He followed when she pulled away, lips coming to rest just
next to her ear. "You've certainly sparked my imagination," he said,
"but I don't know if I can compete with your beloved baseball." One
hand slid up the back of her shirt, fingers trailing along the small
of her back.

She shivered at the touch, but it was an anticipatory reaction rather
than one fueled by fear. Adrienne grinned at him, because she didn't know if
he could compete with her beloved baseball either. "You can try," she
encouraged, and leaned in again for another kiss so he would know he had her
full cooperation should he make the effort to compete.

He kissed her again, fingers exploring her skin. After a moment, he
pulled back, smirking at her. "And what if I get horribly jealous of
your torrid baseball affair?" he asked, his other hand coming up to
trace along her jaw and down her neck, lingering around the collar of
her shirt.

His mention of jealousy, coupled with his touches, had her flinching as an
involuntary image of Steven sparked in her head. "It's a baseball game," she
said very softly, "there's nothing to be jealous about. It's just a game."
Her voice had taken on a tone of submission uncharacteristic to the one she
worked so hard to maintain around people. She swallowed hard and blinked a
few times until the image of Steven went away and she steadied herself,
running her fingers up and down Jake's arms as if to remind herself that it
wasn't Steven she was with now.

He leaned back as he picked up on her hesitation. "It was a joke?"

Adrienne smiled. The remaining threads of discomfort faded away as she
recognized the care he was taking with her. She felt stupid for having
confused Jake with Steven. "You're a very funny guy," she replied. She was
still running her hands up and down his arms and her stomach was doing
little flips in response to it . "A little bit on the scrawny side, but
that's alright, because you're funny, and you're a fantastic kisser." She
brought her mouth to his again, enjoying the feeling like electricity
beginning to spark along her veins. She slipped her tongue into his mouth in
search of his own.

"I bet you say that to all the boys," he teased gently, leaning in to
murmur into her ear once his tongue was free. He moved to nuzzle the
skin underneath her ear, the hand at her neck sliding down to trace
light patterns against her stomach.

"Not in a long time," Adrienne answered, draping herself against him and
pushing him back against the arm of the couch. One hand was against the back
of his neck, toying with his hair. She was very much enjoying the way her
body was reacting to what Jake was doing.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let's see if I can remind you,"
he said, pulling her closer.

The psychometrist slipped her hands under Jake's shirt, exploring the
muscles of his chest and arms. When she paused to take mental stock of
herself, she was pleased to find that the fear she'd been feeling was far
away, and what she was feeling instead was something that might be
classified as desire, foreign as it had been the past few years. Intrigued,
she pulled Jake's shirt over his head, admiring him for a moment with an eye
that had always been critical of a person's physique before exploring his
upper body with her hands, mouth venturing over his collarbone and sternum
to trail wet kisses along his skin. Her body felt like it was buzzing.

No, it was actually buzzing. Her phone was going off. In a half-daze,
Adrienne pulled away from Jake and groped in her pocket, blinking at the
call display. "Shit. I have an appointment with a student for tutoring.
Shit." It was a good thing she'd asked for that reminder call. "I
have to leave now to make it back in time." Reluctantly, Adrienne
disentangled herself from Jake and stood up. "I hate to go." She drew him
into another kiss. "Please tell me you're free tomorrow?" She wanted to
continue where they'd left off.

He kissed her one last time, deeply, trying to persuade her to stay.
"You can't reschedule?" He sighed at the look on her face. "Tomorrow,
then." He smiled at her. "One of these days you're going to have to
stick around, you know."