Chapter 1
"There's a drive to deep left field, Harris on his horse, way back... Oh, he's down on the warning track! It's off the wall, that'll go for a triple! And Harris is still down..."
The tears in my eyes were not so much for the considerable physical pain I was in, but more for the fear that it was all over. I had been sprinting back for a deep fly ball, and when I hit the warning track, my ankle gave way with a sickening sound, and I went down in a heap. I thought my career was over, before it really had begun. After college, I'd passed on a solid Engineering job to pursue my dreams of glory in the Major Leagues, and I was doing pretty well in Rookie ball in Everett, just 30 miles from my Mom's house. I was the best outfielder on the team, but I kept my ego in check because I was the only "College Boy" there. College grads usually went straight to Class-A.
"Well, son, you're in luck. You won't be needing surgery," the doctor said, peering at the X-ray. "But you'll be out six to eight weeks, depending on how hard you work at the physical therapy. I can give you a list of Physical Therapists we've worked with, or you're free to pick your own."
My Mom's a nurse, and she had her own recommendations. I ended up going with the daughter of someone she worked with. Mom took me over to Mrs. Salyer's house, where I not only met Susan, the Physical Therapist, but also Joy, another daughter. Joy was about my age, petite with dark hair and dark eyes. She was absolutely beautiful, tiny and delicate, without seeming fragile. It didn't take long to figure out she wasn't the sharpest member of the family, but her naivete was endearing and her gullibility a favorite target for her sister's wit.
Susan was a few years younger, blond haired and blue eyed, and had a larger, more muscular frame, including a rather impressive rack, if you're into that sort of thing. Although I thought she was attractive, I could sense she compared herself to her sister, and found herself wanting. It was funny to see them side by side, they looked so different. Susan was dressed in jeans and a football jersey, which she filled out quite nicely I might add, while Joy was dressed in designer clothes. Susan was very sharp witted, and not just compared to her sister. When Joy made some totally illogical comment, her sister rolled her eyes.
"Stan, please believe me - we're not blood related!" Susan smirked.
"What?"
"She's adopted," Joy said, "and whenever I say something dumb, she makes sure everybody knows it!"
Susan and I exchanged grins at her unintentional double meaning.
Both girls were very attractive, but I was initially drawn to Susan's big... brain. She could talk intelligently about anything, including baseball and science. But her Mom made sure I knew that Susan had a long-time boyfriend, whereas Joy was, at the moment, available. Now, I'm not too comfortable asking girls out, my mind always seems to desert me. But Mrs. Salyer's comments made it seem rude for me not to ask, and hard for Joy to turn me down, so I asked her to dinner. I guess I bungled it though, because I ended up taking both daughters.
It was actually kind of good that both of them came, it took the pressure off me. I felt kind of strange, proud to be seen with these two girls that I thought were attractive, yet aware that to others one was very beautiful, and the other... some euphemism for overweight. That's fine, but it bothered me that I cared a little bit what other people thought, seeing me with them. I didn't think much of it at the time, though, I was just having a good time.
Joy was very animated, pulling me out of my shell, and Susan was just hilarious. Despite the natural competition between them, it was clear that they loved each other very much.
Chapter 2
Initially I was seeing Susan a lot more than Joy, an hour every day for physical therapy. I was going out with Joy just on the weekends. Even then, half the time Joy invited Susan along. Susan quickly became a good friend, but things were moving pretty slowly with Joy. We were good friends too, but we were supposed to be dating, and the romantic part was going very slowly.
"So, how're things going with Joy?" Susan asked while manipulating my ankle.
"Oh, pretty good I guess. I really like her, and I think she likes me."
"Oh, she likes you all right..." I sensed an unspoken "but".
"What?"
"I don't know if I should say anything."
"Well, you've got to now!"
"Yeah, I guess. I just think you should know that there's an ex-boyfriend still lurking around."
"What do you mean, lurking?"
"Oh, she never sees him, what I mean is, he's still in her head, I think. She won't admit it, though."
"Maybe I can make her forget about him."
"Maybe. I just don't want you to get hurt. Either of you. You do seem to make her happy, though."
"What about you? Does what's-his-name make you happy?" What was that? It's like I was jealous or something. I hope it didn't sound like it felt.
"Yeah, or used to anyway. I don't see him much when school's in session."
"Are things good when you do see him?"
"The answer to that varies according to my mood."
"A woman's prerogative."
"Sometimes I think the relationship isn't as important to him as it is to me. Then other times I think maybe it's not that important to me, either."
"Gaaah! Be careful, there!"
"What, I wasn't even touching your ankle!"
"No, but when you move my leg like that, it kills my hip."
"Where?"
"Just the left one, like right on the socket."
Susan began pushing and probing, and soon it was clear that my shorts were getting in her way.
"Sorry, but you're gonna have to lose the shorts."
"Uhhh..."
"What's the matter? Most jock types can't wait to show me what they've got. Like I'd be impressed that they can get an erection with a total stranger."
"You're not a stranger, though. You're my girlfriend's sister."
"I'm your Physical Therapist. I'm sure you don't have anything I haven't seen before."
"But... It's a no-win deal for me. If I have an erection, I'm one of those 'Jock Types' you hate. And if I don't... I... well, I wouldn't want you to think you're not attractive, because you are."
"Yeah, right. Joy is the attractive one. I'm the fat one, remember?"
"Oh, don't do that. Of course you're attractive. I think you're beautiful!"
"And I think you're delusional. By any objective measure..."
"But that's just it, you can't measure it objectively. I think..." I think I'm getting myself in trouble here.
"Enough already, just can the chatter and strip, okay?"
It actually was a good time to do it. I didn't have a raging hard-on, but I wasn't all shriveled up, either. I pulled off my shorts and briefs as Susan looked on in a totally unprofessional manner. My penis was inflated to full size, but was still soft enough that it hung down between my legs. For some reason, I wanted to make a good first impression.
"Don't worry," she said eyeing my source of embarrassment, "your girlfriend will hear only good things from me!"
"You're not going to tell her about this, are you?"
"Sure, why wouldn't I?"
"Well, I don't know, do you think she'd be upset? Besides, isn't there some patient-therapist confidentiality thing?"
"Hmmm... I don't suppose I have to mention it. I'm sure she'll be seeing you in all your glory soon enough anyway."
"I don't know about that. We seem to be going pretty slowly."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Uhhh... mine, I suppose."
Chapter 3
Well, I wanted to move things along with Joy, but at that point in my life I was so unsure of myself, I didn't know what to do. And even if I did know what to do, if I wasn't positive, I couldn't go through with it. Anyway, we'd been dating a few weeks, and I hadn't kissed her. Sometimes I'd be sure she wanted me to, then she'd do something that made the doubts creep in. Then she changed all that by taking a little initiative.
"Hi Stan, are you free tonight?"
"I'm cheap, but not free," I quipped.
"Ha, ha. Well, you're free tonight, I'm treating."
"You spoil me. Where to?"
"I thought we could take the ferry to the island. It's a nice ride, we can get something to eat over there, then it's a nice ride back."
It was a very romantic date. How come I can never think of things like that? We parked the car, then walked around the beach while waiting for the ferry to arrive. I took her hand to help her climb over a big log, and neither of us were inclined to let go. When the ferry arrived, we walked on board, wandering around on deck for the one hour trip. Though it was spring, it was a little chilly in the evening with the wind.
"Brrr," she said, holding my hand tightly.
"D'you want my jacket?"
She looked at me with a half smile.
"Stan, if a girl takes you on a romantic ferry ride, then when she says she's cold, she wants your arms around her, not your coat!"
I smiled, happy to oblige her, and grateful that she spelled it out for me. She was much shorter than me, and I held her head against my chest. I was afraid she could hear my heart pounding at a dangerous rate, but she just ran her hands all over my back underneath my coat, snuggling up to me. Then she looked up into my eyes.
"And when she looks at you like this, it means..."
I cut her off with my lips on hers. Wow. This was the best ever. Suddenly it seemed too warm to be wearing a coat. I tried to keep an even keel, because I wasn't very experienced. I'd thought I was in love a few times before, and it always turned out that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. So I tried not to get too excited, but it wasn't working. I was falling hard, even as I told myself I was an idiot for doing so.
Joy pretty much carried the conversation over fish 'n chips. I had a much easier time talking to Susan, I guess because I didn't feel any pressure. But I did all right, and we set up another date. More of our dates were alone now, although sometimes we still went out with Susan or Julio, my roommate from the team.
