Spiked! Part 5
Title: Spiked! The VolleyVerse Part 5
Author: texankate
Pairings/Characters: J-squared, Chris/Steve, Usual Suspects OFCs, OMCs.
Rating: Up to NC17 in places
Disclaimer: If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream,. In other words: complete and utter fiction. I own nothing but my twisted and sordid little brain. I even had to borrow my disclaimer.
Warning: Angst, drama, character death. Flagrant disregard of USVA reality.
Summary: When Jensen meets Mac's new volleyball coach, he falls head over heels in lust. Can they overcome misunderstanding and tragedy and find their way to each other?
The captains of the two teams finished their discussion with the head referee, and returned to their teams. Mac took up her spot at the net, and gave Jensen a quick grin and a 'thumbs up'. He shook his head and gave her a cheesy grin and a 'thumbs up' of his own. The game was fundamentally different this go round. While the new team didn't move with the military precision that the old team had, they sure looked like they were having a whole lot more fun. They cheered each others' successes, and gave their support when someone made a mistake.
It seemed to be another good lesson taught by Coach Padalecki. He coached continuously from the sideline, never screaming like the opposing coach. During timeouts, he had a look of concentration on his face while he made adjustments, but always left the girls with some sort of joke and a smile. And instead of crumbling, like their opponents, they played harder, with more confidence. They came back from a six point deficit to win the first game by three, and then went on to win the second game by five.
After a brief meeting after the game, the girls poured off of the court to chat with their parents. Mac plopped down in Jensen's lap and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Not too bad, shorty," Jensen said, pulling her ponytail.
"We rocked," Mac said with a blinding grin.
"You did," Jensen admitted. "Just don't let it go to your head."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Jeff said. "I'm sure Coach P. has a list of things he noticed that need to be fixed."
"I'm sure he does," Jensen said, neutrally. Mac shot him a puzzled look, but the girls dragged her off to get juice before she had a chance to ask him what was wrong.
After the second match, which they also won, Jensen had to get out of the gym. He'd caught himself staring at the coach more than the game, and he was a little afraid he'd started to drool. He needed a distraction, in a hurry. He found a quiet spot outside that none of the teams had taken over, and leaned against the wall.
It was almost noon, so while Chris was probably awake, he'd also probably still be pissed at Jensen for calling.
"What do you want, Jen?" Yep. Very pissed.
"I wanted my best friend to show some damn sympathy that I'm stuck in a big-assed gym with a bunch of screaming teenaged girls," Jensen said.
"Oh you poor thing. However will you cope," Chris said, in a tone so dry that it bordered on arid.
"Jackass."
"Bitch. How's our girl doing?"
"Kicking ass. I'll tell her you said hello. How's Steve?" Jensen asked.
"Fine. Still passed out from all of the sex last night. Think we pissed off the neighbors again during round three." Jensen could hear the smirk on Christian's face.
"Ewww. Dude. So much more information than I needed," Jensen said.
"Still think it's better talking to me than watching after Mac?" Chris asked.
Evil bastard. "Luckily for you? Yes. Barely."
"Hmm. Maybe I could describe the sound Steve makes when I-" Chris began.
"Gah! Stop! Bad touch, Mommy. Bad. Touch!" Jensen cried, pulling the phone away from his ear. "Fine, you bastard. I'll call you later."
He heard Christian's laughter ringing out before he snapped his phone closed. Okay. There was one distraction off of the table. Now how else could he keep himself from going back inside to drool over the very hot and seemingly perfect coach?
Jensen stuffed his phone back into his pocket and headed back towards the entrance. He paused when he heard both feminine giggling and a masculine chuckle coming from one of the doorways on the side of the building.
"Shouldn't we be keeping an eye on the girls?" the feminine voice asked.
"Nah, they're fine. Last I saw, they were huddled around Jeff's SUV getting snacks and water," the masculine voice replied. A very familiar masculine voice. One that Jensen had heard coaching Mac all morning.
"I'm surprised you noticed. You've been awfully distracted today," the woman said, a teasing lilt in her voice. Jensen recognized that tone of voice. Very flirty. Maybe Coach Padalecki wasn't flying the rainbow flag after all.
"How am I supposed to concentrate with someone so fucking hot in the room?" Coach P. said with a sigh.
"Naughty boy. I'm surprised you were able to keep everyone from noticing just how distracted you and 'Little Jared' were," the woman said, her voice dropping.
"Torture. Absolute torture," the coach said.
As intrigued as Jensen was by the thought of 'Little Jared', he felt like a pervert for listening in on their conversation, especially since it seemed like Coach P. was not his type after all. He tried to stuff down his disappointment at the discovery, and backed away as slowly as he could. He found Mac sitting at a picnic table in the food court, and sat down with her and her friends.
"How many more games do you have?" he asked, shortly.
Mac looked at him like he'd grown two heads. "We have one more to play and then one to ref. Why?"
"Just wanted to know when we could get out of here," Jensen said.
"We should be done here by three at the latest," Mac said. "But everyone is going for pizza later."
Jensen's day just kept getting worse. "Can you catch a ride? Or can I come pick you up when you're done?" he asked.
Mac's face fell. "No. It's okay. I don't have to go," she said, her voice tiny.
Jensen officially felt like shit. "Nah, it's okay. I just may need to find someplace in the corner to have some alone time with the project my boss is screaming for," he lied.
"Jen, if you need to work-"
"I can do it there," he said. "Just don't expect me to be all social."
"Sure. That's okay," Mac said, just a tiny bit of disappointment in her voice still evident.
He scrambled to think of something to put her into a better mood. He brightened as a truly evil thought popped into his brain. "You know, I talked to Christian earlier. He and Steve send their love."
"Really?" Mac squealed. She had a huge crush on both men. They, in turn, were completely wrapped around her finger. "Do you think they might want to come see me play?"
"Awesome idea, brat. You should call them tonight, see if they want to come out tomorrow," Jensen said, as if the idea of dragging the two men out of bed at an ungodly hour were completely new to him.
"Cool! I'll call them as soon as we know what time we start tomorrow," Mac said. She turned back to her friends and launched into a story about how cool Chris and Steve were, and how they had a band and played in bars.
The thought of seeing Christian dragged out of bed on a Sunday morning to watch teenaged girls play volleyball brightened Jensen's day immensely. He couldn't keep the grin off of his face while he bought nachos and a coke.
The last game was tough, with the two teams having to go to a tie-breaker. Jensen caught himself chewing on his nails until the last point, and jumped up to cheer with all of the other parents when the girls won.
The girls clustered around Coach Padalecki and the cute and tiny assistant coach that Jensen was just noticing. He wondered if she was the one Coach Padalecki had been cuddled up to outside. They both had that fresh, clean cut look about them. All dimples and Colgate white teeth. Jensen felt his stomach clench, just a little.
When the team broke, Jeff pulled Jensen to the side. "We're taking the girls to Flying Saucer Pizza, if you and Mac want to come with us," he said. "I understand if you have to get back to work, though. We'd be happy to drop Mac home."
Mac chose that moment to join them, puppy eyes turned on full force. "No thanks, Jeff. I may be camped out in the corner doing some work, but I could use a slice of pizza right now," Jensen said. Mac beamed at him.
"Good man," Jeff said with a chuckle.
The girls texted each other during the whole drive over, all fifteen minutes of it. Jensen rolled his eyes, but he was happy to see Mac in such a good mood. Inside the restaurant, he gave Mac some cash and then staked out a table in the corner where he could open up his computer and work in peace.
Which lasted until the waitress came by to take their orders. Once she had a list of pizzas as long as her arm, Jensen looked up to see the two coaches sliding into the booth across from him.
"Jensen, right?" Coach Padalecki asked, extending his hand. "We've never been properly introduced.
"Pleasure," Jensen said, shaking the man's hand briefly. He tried to keep his tone neutral.
"And this is my assistant coach, Sandy McCoy," Jared said. The cute little brunette stuck her hand out as well. Jensen nodded and shook her hand.
"Mac talks about you all the time," Sandy said, smiling sweetly. "It's awesome to see someone whose whole family is really supportive."
Jensen really wasn't in the mood to chat. "Well, really I'm just here to keep and eye on her. Not much of a sports fan, myself." Hey, it might be a lie, but if it got them to leave a little quicker, it was worth it.
He thought he saw Jared's smile dim just a little bit. "That's cool," the coach said. "It's even more impressive that you spent the whole day out at the tournament then, especially since it's not your thing."
"Well, I didn't really have much of a choice. My parents would string me up if I didn't," Jensen said, shortly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to finish this work up."
Both coaches mouths dropped at Jensen's rudeness. "Of course," Coach McCoy said, pushing Coach Padalecki out of the booth. "Thanks again for letting Mac come out this afternoon."
Jensen nodded and returned to hunching over his computer. He watched the coaches out of the corner of his eye as they returned to the main tables full of players and parents, walking around to each person and chatting. He thought he saw them send speculative glances in his direction, but he wasn't quite sure. He tried not to think about it.
It ate at his stomach that he'd been so rude, but really, he hadn't been able to help himself. It was irrational and petty, but he was more than a little attracted to the apparently straight and definitely gorgeous coach. Jensen had already wasted too much of his life pining after straight boys, and whatever he had to do to keep it from happening again was worth a little attack of conscience.
He was finally able to pry Mac away from her friends two hours later. She didn't make too much of a fuss, knowing that Jensen hadn't really wanted to come in the first place. She said goodbye to her teammates and her coaches, and followed him out to the car.
Once they were inside and rolling, Jensen tossed her his phone. "Hit speed dial number two," he said.
Mac wrinkled her brow but did as directed. Jensen heard the phone ring two times before a gruff voice came on the line.
"Chris?" Mac asked with a grin. "Hey! It's Mac."
Jensen grinned at what he imagined was a wary expression on Christian's face. He knew Christian would find some new and traumatizing way of getting back at him, but he savored his temporary moment of triumph.
"I miss you, too," Mac grinned. "That's kind of why I'm calling. We won our bracket at the tournament today, and we have at least one more game tomorrow morning. Would you and Steve maybe want to come see me play?"
Jensen felt like he should bow down to the master. He might have to partner up with his little sister more often.
"The game is at nine tomorrow morning. Yeah, I know it's early. Do you have a gig tonight? See, you'll have plenty of rest. I promise I won't make you chase balls around the court like I did with Jen this morning. Please?"
The squeal she made, which caused dogs in four counties to howl, was all Jensen needed to hear to know that both Christian and Steve would be courtside tomorrow morning. They'd both probably be grumpy bastards, but it was well worth it to have someone besides parents and coaches to chat with.
Chapter 6