Ann: A Love Story Ch. 10

I didn't play basketball after I moved to back to Indiana. Moving in the middle of my junior year, the season had already started. When the next year rolled around, the head coach asked me to try out, wanting me to be a scoring threat off the bench. He had seen me play during lunch and in gym, and he assured me I would make the team.

But after some frank discussions, he leveled with me that he was looking at me as insurance in case someone got hurt. I wasn't going to see much, if any, playing time because the team was laden with guards, three of them seniors and two being sophomores. The coach said after the three returning senior guards, he had to play the younger guys to make sure he was set for the next season.

I told him that I wasn't interested in riding the bench all season, and he understood. It was interesting because he was a math teacher, and he saw my acumen for the subject. After I turned the opportunity down, he implored me to become his lead statistician. He knew I knew the game, and most of the people that did that job didn't. I decided to do it, since I was going to go to the games anyway. That allowed me to sit at the scorers' table, so I had a great seat, and I got into all the games for free.

During home games, the added benefit was that at those halftimes. I would hand off the stats for the first half to the coaches to take into the locker room, which allowed me to stay in my seat and watch the dance team up close. They were dancing for the majority of the home fans it the fixed stadium seats on the far side of the court. They were mostly doing their dances facing the other way.

The formation they would use almost always had Ann starting directly in front of me. I had a full season of staring at Ann's perfect backside, less than fifteen feet away from me. Thinking of that at work, it dawned on me that I had, on a couple of occasions, gone home and stroked off to the thought of having Ann bounce up and down on my cock.

I was never able to act on that, since I never remembered seeing Ann after school or away from a sporting event. I'm not even sure I would have asked her out, but I would have liked to have gotten to know her better. As it was, I felt like she already knew a lot more about me that I did her. At least that's the impression I had. I was determined to find out more, and figured I might have that opportunity before Matt met us at the bar.

I was lost in thought, thinking about Ann in her dance outfit, when I was startled by the bell. I looked at my desk, still piled with tons of things I really needed to get done. Being in charge of my department, I had to justify any overtime hours I used each week in a report, including my own. I was allowed a certain percentage of total hours worked in a week. If I was going to go past that number, I had to get approval from my boss. I decided I'd just have to find a way to buckle down the next day. It wasn't worth the risk of burning hours I might need later in the week. It was only Tuesday.

As I drove home, I tried to think if I accomplished anything at all during the afternoon. Other than actually finding some memories of Ann tucked away in the recesses of the vault in my skull, I couldn't think of anything. I certainly didn't do any work, and that gnawed at me. I hated the feeling of not giving my best. It felt like stealing. I suppose that was a trait instilled by my father, but it was one I respected and was proud to share with him.

I hadn't been that careless in my work since the early days of my divorce. I went through a particularly rough stretch, where it wasn't uncommon for me to daydream at work. They were more like a series of nightmares in the middle of the day, actually. My boss had been tremendously supportive during that time. That gesture only made me want to work harder once I got my act together. So, when there were days that I didn't finish tasks I felt I should have, I was usually upset with myself.

After kicking myself the entire drive home, I decided to make up for it the only way I knew how, which was to work at home. I had a lot of laundry I'd neglected since I returned from my trip to Michigan, so I got to it. Washing my clothes was never a favorite chore, but it gave me a sense of purpose around my parents' house, and I didn't like having my Mom do it for me. I changed the sheets on my bed, and threw them into the washer, along with some of my clothes.

I was folding my sheets when Mom came home. It always seemed to shock her when she caught me doing something domestic. But that didn't stop her from teasing me about it.

"How come you never did laundry when you lived here before?" she asked.

"You didn't have a job back then. I think all you did was laundry. I swear, I could take off what I was wearing and throw it in the hamper at night, and you'd have it back in my closet the next morning. I could have worn the same thing every day I had wanted to."

I finished all of my stuff; folding, hanging and or putting away what I had pulled out of the dryer on that last load. It didn't really make up for screwing off like I had at work, but I felt better about myself for accomplishing something during my day.

Dad had come home, and launched himself into one of his power naps. He woke up when he heard the ding of a timer going off in the kitchen. It was like an alarm, telling him dinner was ready. I heard Mom yell as I stood in my room, and I headed to join them. Dad passed me in the hall, going to wash up quickly. Mom and I waited silently at the table until he got back.

As we ate, Mom asked about my day. I left out the part of being unproductive, and mentioned only the good things. The good morning meeting about my visit to S-T Inc., the follow up call from Mark, minus the x-rated details, and some other little victories during the day. I also mentioned how I'd found Ann at the restaurant.

"What are you doing tonight?" Mom asked.

"Matt and I are going to go to the End Zone. Ann wants to buy him a beer. She thinks it's amazing that the kid she used to babysit is old enough to drink."

"Matt doesn't drink that much, does he?"

"No more than I do. We're not going there to drink, we're just getting together."

"Well, be careful," she said, always being a Mom.

I took a shower, and got myself ready to go. I don't know why, but I took extra care in shaving my crotch, and I went overboard with the soap. I wasn't really thinking anything would happen, but the thought of making myself more presentable for Ann made me excited as I did.

I wore shorts and a golf shirt, and my sandals. It was warm out, and I wanted to be comfortable. I debated about underwear, and decided to wear some boxers. As excited as I'd been around Ann, I didn't want to have any wet spot show up at an inopportune moment.

I walked into the kitchen and said goodnight to the folks, telling them not to worry, and not to wait up. I got the 'don't be out too late because it's a school night' stare from my Mom and a wink from my Dad. It was an interesting difference in reaction; the wink in particular. Maybe he just wanted me to stay out late so he could get lucky himself. After what I knew from being home the last year, that was certainly a possibility.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I pulled into the Franklin's driveway, staring at Ann. She was sitting on the front steps, waiting for me. I was going to get out of the car to open the door for her, but she couldn't wait. It was like I was in the getaway car, and I'd arrived late.

"Let's go!" she said hurried tone as she shut the door and buckled up.

I backed out and pulled away in a rush. Glancing over, I got my first real look at how Ann was dressed. She had on a very short red leather miniskirt, and a sheer black sleeveless blouse. The top of the blouse was unbuttoned most of the way to show glimpse of her lacey red bra. With her legs crossed, I got a glimpse of her open toed high heeled shoes that laced up just past the top of her ankles. They were black, matching the blouse. She was the hottest woman I'd ever seen in that ultra conservative community.

While I looked her over from a physical perspective, which was required by man law, I was also very aware of Ann's emotional state of mind. It was hard to be excited about how she was dressed when I could clearly see she was upset.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No. Not really."

Going to the bar right away didn't seem like a good idea, so I drove around town to the park, and parked the car. I got out and walked around the car. Opening her door, she looked at me, wondering what I was doing.

"I thought we were going out?" Ann said, looking puzzled.

"We are out. Matt won't be there until nine. Let's take a walk."

"I not exactly in my walking shoes, Neil."

I bent down and untied the bow to the lace of her left shoe as she turned in her seat. In doing so, I got a magnificent little peek at her red lace panties. Taking off both of her heels, I put them on the floor of the car. I kicked off my sandals and put them next to hers.

"There. Is that better?" I asked as I stood up and held out my hand.

Ann stood up with me, and we walked through the plush grass to a gazebo that was down a hill in the center of the park. Sitting on a bench underneath it, I held her hand as I put my other arm around her.

"What happened, Ann?" I asked.

"I got into a fight with my Mom."

"What about?"

"The way I'm dressed."

I let out a little laugh.

"Laughing about how I'm dressed is not going to make me feel better."

"I'm not laughing about that Ann. I love the way you're dressed. You are HOT!"

"Then why did you laugh?"

"You have to admit, you wore that for me, right?"

Ann blushed a little, and nodded softly as she turned her big brown eyes in my direction.

"Trust me; I'm flattered that you would do that for me."

"Flattered?"

"Sure. You HAD to know it was going to cause an argument with your Mom, and you wore it anyway. Why wouldn't I be flattered?"

That made Ann laugh, and she said, "Does that make me a Masochist?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure what your bent is...yet!"

"Wow, I didn't know we were going to be discussing our sexual preferences so soon."

"You're right. That should come a little later in a relationship. How's 10 o'clock for you?"

Ann's anger left with her smile. "You are so funny, Neil."

"Okay...we'll table that discussion. I still have a lot of other things I want to learn about you first. Starting there would really be putting the cart before the horse."

We spent the next hour talking about High School. Not only did she talk about her relationship with her Mother, she talked about her brother's with their Father. It certainly cleared up some misconceptions I had about her older brother, Alan. I only knew him as an obnoxious jerk. I found out where he had gotten some of that. Ann insisted her Father was a changed man now, and that he and Alan had repaired their relationship.

Ann said she still had issues with her overbearing Mother though. Being home only confirmed that she had made the right decision in moving to California. And the episode just before I arrived showed that Ann's Mother still felt it was her duty to try and control her daughter.

The conversation got a lot better when I started asking questions about how she knew so much about me. I wouldn't say Ann had a crush on me in High School. But she certainly knew who I was, and I interested her. More than I could have known. Since Ann didn't have a social life, she confessed that she had to live through fantasies. And when I moved to Indiana and enrolled in the school, I became one of them. Apparently, a pretty big one.

Then Ann asked me what I remembered of her in High School. "I was thinking about that today, actually, after I got back to work. I remembered a couple of things. But one stood out above all the others."

"Really? What was it?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you remember. But, when we were seniors, I was a statistician for the basketball team. And during home games I would sit at the scorer's table."

"I remember. I still can't believe you didn't try out for the team, Neil. You were better than any of the guards we had the year before."

I was surprised by that, and said, "Yeah, maybe. But I knew I wasn't going to play."

"How would you know that?"

"The coach told me. He wanted me on the team, but basically said I would only play if someone got hurt."

"Well, he was an idiot. No wonder we lost in the sectionals." The passion in Ann's voice astounded me. It was like she had taken it personally that I was treated with what she deemed as disrespect, over something that happened over 10 years before. "I can't believe that asshole wouldn't play the best player just because you were new to the school. I'm glad he got fired after the season."

As I said, basketball in Indiana is like a religion. It was obvious that Ann still had that ingrained, even after being away for so long. That or she was just trying to make me feel better. It didn't matter to me; I had the best seat in the house.

"I have to tell you, Ann. I was okay with it. I mean, I would have loved to have played, but I made the best of it. That's what I was thinking about today."

Ann snapped out of her reflective funk, saying, "Oh yeah. So, you're the statistician. There's a lot of glory in that."

"Head statistician," I said, trying to sound more important as I corrected her.

"Yes sir, Mr. head statistician, sir!" she answered with a salute. "Now, what does that have to do with me?"

"I would do my thing and give the sheets to the assistant coach at the half, and then I was free to do whatever I wanted to do until the second half started."

Ann got this funny look on her face. It was almost an 'I know something you don't know' expression. I felt like I was telling a joke to someone who not only knew the punch line, but had written the joke.

"You never did though. At least not after the first game; you always stayed at the table."

My eyebrow arched, and Ann let out at giggle.

"How would you know what I did every game?" I asked.

"I told you. You interested me, a lot."

"I'm a little...what are you, saying...I don't understand," I finally said confused.

"The first game, I was on the far side in the formation."

"What formation?" I asked.

"The dance team formation, silly. I was on the far right. But Angie got hurt in a volleyball game and she had to sit out a couple of games, and she had to stop the dance team too. So I was moved to the top of the formation to take her place. The dance coach liked what I did there, and I got to stay even after Angie came back. That really pissed her off."

"I don't understand. What was the significance of that spot in the formation?"

"Well, that was the spot where we would occasionally split the girls and create a path, and I would do a run and back flip toward the stadium seats. We only did it in big games, and I was the only other girl besides Angie that could do it."

I had forgotten that. Because she was a gymnast, Ann was a natural when they had her do that. I had totally forgotten that another girl was in that spot for the first home game. That game I did get up to go get something to eat. I never did that after Ann was right in front of me.

"The other significance of that spot was, I was right in front of you!" she said confidently.

I couldn't help but think I'd been set up, but there was no way that Ann could have known I had daydreamed at work about her shaking that magnificent ass at me during those dance routines.

"So, you knew I was watching you?" I asked.

"Not until after the third game. I caught you staring at me, and that's when my fantasies about you really began to take a hold of me. I'd never had anyone look at me like you did. At least, not as blatantly as you were doing it. It really got me going. I didn't fantasize about you every day, but I always did after a game once I knew you were watching me."

"So what did you do when you fantasized?"

"I masturbated! What was the point of a fantasy if I wasn't going to do something with it?"

"That's interesting."

"What, that a high school girl got excited about a handsome guy in her class staring at her and got off on that?"

"Well, yeah. But I was actually thinking it was interesting that you got yourself off to me. I guess last night really wasn't the first time we masturbated at the same time thinking about each other.'

"You...you did it too?" Ann said in disbelief.

"Not after every game. But there were a few times, when you were really outdid yourself, where I couldn't get you out of my mind."

"Wow. Well, there were a couple of games where I was inspired knowing you were behind me and I knew the routine was made for me to shake what little I had."

"Don't shortchange yourself, Ann. You were the best dancer on the squad. It wasn't even close. I may be a little biased, but I'm not wrong about that. I'm guessing that was the one time you could come out of your shell and there was nothing your Mom and Dad could do about it. And you had plenty, by the way. You always had my undivided attention."

"If it was undivided, how do you know I was better than any of the other girls?" she said, trying to trap me in my words.

I turned the tables when I said, "Okay...Yeah, I looked at all the girls on the dance team at one time or another. And here are three facts. One, you were the best dancer on the team. Two, you always had my attention when you were right in front of me. And three, you're the only one that I ever jacked off thinking about."

Ann put her hand to her mouth, acting like a Southern Belle, and said, "My, I'm flattered."

"You should be. I didn't waste my sperm on just any girl. At least until I got married."

Ann laughed and stood up. Moving to the center of the gazebo, she stood facing away from me. Striking a pose just like she had so many times in school, she counted softly, and then began dancing a routine to the music in her head. It was amazing. Ann moved even more sexily than she did back then, using her body with much more confidence and grace.

The best part was that she was doing the moves she had learned years before, and I was seeing her do them as a woman; in a miniskirt! The flashing of her red lace panties wasn't lost on me. I was growing by the moment, and she knew it.

When she finished, she stared at my crotch as she caught her breath. I was catching mine too.

"Is that how you would end up when I danced for you in school?" she asked.

"You danced for me?" I asked.

"Of course! You were my fantasy, and I danced mostly for you. I think you made me a better dancer, actually. I was uninhibited when you were watching. It felt just like it did now. It was like it was just me and you out there. Did I get you hard right there in the school?"

"Most of the time. Why?"

"Because, I could never tell; you always had that damn table blocking you. I always wondered."

"Well wonder no more. I wish we would have gotten together ten years ago, Ann," I said with a touch of melancholy in my voice.

Ann took my hand and helped me to my feet. She grabbed me, and I found myself taking her into my arms. Imaginary music filled both of our heads, as we found ourselves slow dancing in what suddenly became a very romantic setting. We swayed back and forth, turning in a tight circle just like teenagers. Being barefoot only made it more personal to me.

It was starting to get dark, and I glanced at my watch. Just that move let Ann know we needed to head off to meet Matt. We held hands again as we walked across the cool, damp grass in silence.

I opened Ann's door and helped her in, but before I shut her door, I opened my trunk and and got out a towel. Handing it to her, she wiped her feet before strapping her heels back on. I backed out and drove barefoot, heading toward the sports bar.