Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, I do enjoy however any time that George and Jorja are on screen together because they play off of each other so well. If I ever get the chance, I'd be happy to buy them coffee.
Author's Note: This is a sequel to "Bottom of the 18th", something I don't normally do, but after watching the World Series, this just wouldn't leave me alone. I'm dedicating it to Ashley (thanks for lending George to me while I recover from my accident), Brianna (I just wanted to send you something to make you smile since life hasn't been too fun lately for you), and Mel (who else answers my dumb questions and makes up cool phrases like "fluff juice"?)
"Hey, I can't see the TV." Nick sounded a bit panicked as he waved his hand at Sara as she walked slowly around the coffee table to sit next to him on his couch, as if he could somehow move her along faster.
"It's a commercial, Nick." Sara sounded more amused than annoyed as she arched a brow at her boyfriend of just two and a half weeks. He certainly was cute when he was obsessed.
"It's the World Series, Sara, and the Astros are in it." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to defend himself. Their relationship had taken off during the 18 inning marathon of a game against Atlanta that had sent the Astros to the National League Championship Series before they battled to get past St. Louis to get into the World Series in the first place. He and Sara had pretty much been inseparable outside of work since that Sunday afternoon game.
Sara did her best to restrain her smirk. "Nick, your Astros are a game away from being eliminated." She hated to point out the obvious, but it was better that he face a little reality than think his team could pull off the kind of miracle that the Red Sox had against the Yankees the year before in the American League playoffs. A story she had become oh too familiar with as Nick kept drawing lengthy comparisons between the teams when baseball wasn't actually on TV.
"Hey, there's still no score in this game." He gestured towards the TV screen, pointing at the fact that it was the bottom of the seventh inning and even though his Astros hadn't scored yet, neither had the White Sox. That was a fact that he was pinning all of his hope onto at that moment.
Sara snickered. "Well, if the fourteen innings they played last night is any indication, we could be here for a while." She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder, smiling at how caught up in the game he was and how much like a little boy it made him seem to her. They had been friends for years and this new phase of their relationship was hard to gauge given that he'd been a little over the top with the Astros for the last couple of weeks.
Nick's brow was furrowed as he studied the TV. "They've just got to get one of these guys home." He glanced over at Sara with a completely serious expression on his face. "Do you realize how many guys they've had in scoring position, but they couldn't get a single one of them home?" Somehow in the back of his mind he reasoned that if he rationalized it long enough something just might happen to influence the game.
Sara leaned up and kissed Nick, effectively shutting him up for a long minute. She smiled at him as they broke the kiss. "Just remember, it's a game, and you're only watching it." She just wanted him to have a little perspective, and maybe think past baseball season to spending a little more time with her doing something other than watching sports on TV.
"But it's the first time the World Series has been hosted by a team from Texas." Nick had a whiney quality to his voice just then. He couldn't remember the number of times his dad had paced back and forth in their family room when he was a kid, willing the Astros to pull out a win; he came by his obsession naturally.
Sara just shook her head and pulled herself off of the couch; she could tell that there was really no way she was going to talk any sense into Nick.
"Where are you going?" Nick sounded worried. He didn't want to miss a second of baseball, but he didn't want Sara to leave either. He kept an eye on the TV out of the corner of his eye as he looked over at her.
She chuckled softly and smirked at him. "I'm getting a beer...you want one?"
"Uh, yeah." Relieved that she wasn't leaving, Nick turned his attention back to the TV where it seemed that one of the White Sox players had managed to get on base, but Nick hadn't really been paying close attention. As he watched, he let out a few choice curse words as the Sox scored.
"What happened?" Sara glanced over at him from where she was standing near his fridge. She knew that if he was swearing that the White Sox must have done something that wasn't in the Astros favor.
"The damn White Sox scored." Nick sounded positively ill at the thought that his Astros had worked so hard to get to the World Series only to get swept. He raked his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh as he leaned back into the couch.
Sara walked back over to the couch and plopped herself down right on Nick's lap wrapping an arm around his shoulders and grinning as he turned his attention towards her. "You're a little tense." She made a mental note to give him a massage later on; perhaps as a prelude to other things.
"My team isn't doing so well if you haven't noticed." Nick also noticed that Sara only had one beer in hand. "I thought you were going to bring me one too." He looked like he was pouting.
She arched her brows at him to keep from laughing at him. "I thought we could share; I didn't really want a whole one." She took a long swig and then handed it to him.
"Thanks." Nick was in the middle of a long swig of his own when he felt Sara shift her weight a little, giving a little too much friction to a certain part of his anatomy. He nearly snorted the beer out of his nose. "Sar..." His voice wavered a bit.
Sara knew exactly what she was doing and she moved a little bit more as she glanced at him with a look of pure innocence. "What?"
"Careful with the merchandise." He arched his brows in a meaningful manner. He wasn't against scoring a little himself later...after the game was over, hopefully to celebrate the Astros winning their first game of the Series. But right now, things were looking pretty dire for his boys from Houston.
"Merchandise?" Sara couldn't help but snicker. "Is that what we're calling it now?" She shifted her weight again intent on getting his attention off of the game. Since they'd started dating, they had spent some quality time making out, but they hadn't crossed the line, and Sara wanted to make it abundantly clear that she was waving him in to steal home.
Nick's eyes closed as he let out a soft groan. He knew that Sara knew exactly what she was doing, but it felt so damn good and his Astros weren't putting forth enough effort to score. At least someone from Texas should be allowed to score. "Sara..." His voice was husky.
"Mnn." Sara leaned back and rested her back against his chest, she had learned enough about baseball and knew enough about statistical probabilities that Nick was most likely going to be disappointed in the outcome of the game. She tilted her head and kissed his neck, doing a little hip shimmy at the same time and smiling at the response she was getting.
Nick was having difficulty thinking about baseball, despite an attempt to watch the game the Astros were quickly becoming a disappointment as they kept stranding players on base, while his relationship with Sara had become a rather pleasant surprise during these playoff games. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck; deciding that the Astros could win or lose without his attention.
A short time later they were in the midst of a rather involved tangle of arms, legs and lips when a sound of muffled cheers erupted on the TV. Nick lifted his eyes just long enough to catch what was going on. He mumbled against Sara's mouth as his hand moved on towards third base. "Damn White Sox won."
She mumbled back. "Doesn't mean you can't too." She wanted to be perfectly clear that she was ready to take things further.
Nick really didn't need any encouragement, but he really didn't want to make it to home with Sara on his leather couch when he had a perfectly good and comfortable king sized bed in his bedroom. He whispered in her ear. "Let's go in the other room."
"Mmn, yeah..." Sara murmured back.
It was much later as they lay there tangled up together under Nick's comforter with satisfied grins on their faces that Sara was finally able to speak a coherent sentence. "I'm sorry about your team."
Nick glanced at her and noticed the genuine expression of concern on her face. He couldn't help but smile; they had been friends for a long time for a reason and falling for her was just icing on the cake; and in the end that was far better than the Astros winning the World Series. "It's ok...I've got you."
The End