Wow…so blown away by the kind reviews I have gotten so far! You guys ROCK!

Now back to the story…

The team had been working hard at their second practice for an hour now, and fatigue from the effort and hot sun were beginning to sink in. Catherine, who was on second base was getting tired of waiting for a ball to be hit her way. They were playing a mini-mock game and at the moment, Hodges was attempting to bat. Catherine sighed as he missed the second ball, and then backed up and sat herself down on the field.

"Come on Hodges swing!" heckled Greg from first base.

"I am trying to concentrate Sanders!" he snarled back from home plate.

Grissom, who was again pitching, tossed another ball at Hodges and this time he hit a grounder to third where Warrick caught it and promptly threw it to Greg, before Hodges even had time to get half way to first base. Catherine watched all this with mild amusement from her spot on the grass, where she was now lying back and sunning herself.

"Your out!" Greg mocked.

Hodges got a murderous look on his face, and began to stalk towards his enemy. But before he could inflict any damage, the jingling of bells were heard and Sara called out,

"Ice cream!"

All eyes flew to the little cart that was making its way through the park. The team was off the field faster than Grissom could open his mouth to stop them. Yet the thought of some cold ice cream made him hold back his comment about continuing practice and he slowly walked over to join them.

"Can I get a chocolate ice cream bar?" Catherine was telling the teenage boy, as she handed him some change.

"Do you have one of those without peanuts?" questioned Nick.

Sara was already licking a melting ice cream bar, and Grissom became spellbound at the sight of her caressing it with her tongue and licking her lips. Thoughts ran through his head that he knew as a supervisor that he shouldn't be having, until the boy's voice brought him back to reality.

"Um sir? Excuse me…what can I get you?"

Grissom resisted the urge to say that he wanted Sara, and instead ordered an Oreo cookie bar. The team fell into a comfortable silence as they ate. Grissom stayed close to Sara and glanced up from his treat to watch her every now and then. Finally she caught onto his looks and gave him one of her own.

"What is it Griss? Do I have something on my face?" she asked.

He fumbled over what to say and thinking of nothing better he nodded.

"Where?" she questioned, wiping at her mouth, "Did I get it?"

He shook his head and then reached out and brushed her cheek with his hand, wiping away the invisible spot with his thumb.

She froze for a second, not sure of what to do, or even if what was happening was real. The she realized that his hand was lingering on her cheek and she leaned her face into his hand. Their eyes locked, both lost in the moment.

Suddenly the magic was broken with Greg calling out that they should probably get back to their practice. Grissom dropped his hand to his side and Sara turned away as if nothing had happened. She sighed loudly, thinking about how much she hated having her heart jerked around by him, but the moments like the one they had just had made her forget all about her broken heart. She also hated that. Sara picked up a bat, determined to hit the next ball with all the aggression she was feeling.

Nick walked over to the garbage bin to dispose of his ice cream wrapper when a golden lab came tearing across the park at him. The dog stopped in front of him and wagged its tale.

"Well hello there," Nick grinned, kneeling down to the animal's level and petting it.

"Corona! Come here you!"

Nick looked up as a woman came over to the dog.

"There you are! I'm sorry if he's bothering you. I let go of the leash for one second to tie my shoe and he took off," she apologized.

"No, he's not bothering me at all. In fact, he's a friendly fellow and we were just getting acquainted. Corona is an interesting name."

"Well, I was drinking one when I was trying to come up with a name, and my friends thought it sounded fun."

"So what's your name?" Nick asked the curly haired woman.

"Beth, and you?" she smiled shyly at him.

"Nick Stokes," he said holding out his hand.

They shook hands and Nick gazed at Beth. He thought she was cute. She had dark curls, and a peppering of freckles across her pale face.

"So is that your team that I've seen playing?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, we're practicing for our big game."

"Looks like you were taking an ice cream break."

Nick chuckled and said,

"Well, it was getting pretty hot out. In fact, I could go for a Corona about now."

Beth laughed and it was music to Nick's ears.

"I don't think you'll get one now, but would you like to get one later?"

Nick couldn't believe his luck and he thanked his lucky stars that her dog had found him.

"I would love to," he replied.

They exchanged numbers, and then Corona pulled Beth off on their walk and Nick headed back to the practice with an extra big smile on his face.

As practice ended, Grissom called them all over to talk.

"I think we are nearly ready for the big day, and maybe one more practice should do it. If we continue to work together as we have been doing, we have a good chance of beating day shift. Now I am sure you're all eager to get home, so rest up and I'll see everyone tomorrow for shift," he dismissed them, and they all began to walk to their trucks.

Up next…the big game! Loving all the reviews, keep them coming! More reviews mean less time till the next chapter! (They really motivate me!) Hope I've satisfied most of the requests for GSR (which I love) and more Nick.

If you are looking for a Nick centred fic try my story "Fragile."

If you are looking for GSR angst try my fic "Bullet-proof"

If you are looking for more comedy like this, try my fic "Adventures in Teamwork."

Thanks so much for the support so far, -Lifeguard