Chapter Text
Jess never thought Lupe would actually do it. Sure, the two of them fantasized about what it would be like for Lupe to work a season on Jess’ father’s farm, but Jess knew in her heart that it was exactly that – a fantasy.
“Free room and board, and better money than any other place that’ll hire women,” Jess explained as she lit Lupe’s cigarette. They were standing in the porch light after an evening at Vi’s. It was 3am, way too late for Bev to scold them for being out after curfew. “I lasted about three days at the dress shop.”
Lupe scoffed around the filter of her cig. “What the fuck were you doing at a dress shop?”
Jess chuckled. “The preacher’s wife thought I ought to get a chance to hang around girls. It was right after my ma passed.”
Lupe raised an eyebrow. “The preacher’s wife thought you should hang around girls?”
“Right?!” Jess cackled. The memory, once painful, was humorous when shared with someone who could understand. “Bet she thought being surrounded by boys without a mother in sight would turn me queer.”
“Little did they know -,” Lupe started.
“It was too late,” Jess finished. She flicked ash from her cigarette and laughed at the memory. “Way too late. I was queer in the womb.”
“I believe it. Bet you came out already wearing pants.”
“It’s true, some of the Moose Jaw locals still tell the tale of my miraculous birth.” Jess hopped up onto the porch railing and grinned at Lupe as she crouched there. They're about the same height, but this angle allowed Jess to peer down at Lupe.
“Yet another reason to visit. I gotta hear the tales of Canada’s cryptid.” Lupe’s smile was crooked and Jess’ heart was full.
Despite their idealizing, Jess didn’t actually believe that Lupe would make it all the way to Saskatchewan. People say things they don’t mean all the time. It’s not that they don’t mean it in the moment. But life is more than a series of moments, and sometimes they don’t all fit together properly.
It wouldn’t have hurt Jess’ feelings. Sure, she’d be a little disappointed. She’d be sad if her moments with Lupe were reduced to memories replayed behind her eyelids. But she would’ve understood.
But she doesn’t have to lick her wounds and fill her life with distractions after the season ends. Instead, Jess walks into Lupe and Esti’s room on the day before move-out. The shelves are bare and the suitcases are packed. Lupe is rifling with some papers on her nightstand, and her smile is wild when she looks up at Jess.
“Guess what, McCready?” She asks.
Jess is slightly unnerved by Lupe’s expression. It’s not like she never expresses joy. But Lu’s smiles are a rare sight to behold, only given out on rare and special occasions. Jess has grown skilled at weaseling them out, but she hasn’t done anything to prompt this one.
“Should I be scared?” Jess asks.
“Terrified,” Lupe answers. She pulls a piece of paper from the stack and presses it to her chest so Jess can’t see what’s printed on it. The rest of the papers are carelessly discarded on the nightstand. “Y’know what I’ve got here?” She asks.
Jess kicks the door shut behind her and stalks closer. She reaches to snatch the paper out of Lu’s hands. Lupe is too quick, though, and she spins around to prevent Jess’ access. Jess catches her by the shoulder and tries to pry Lupe’s arms from where they’re pinning the paper to her chest.
They shuffle and scuffle for a few seconds until Jess has her arms around Lupe’s back and Lupe is thrashing around in an attempt to free herself from the hold. Their boots squeak against the wood floor.
The situation quickly devolves until Jess has Lupe pinned to the bed. It’s not an effective technique. Lupe is face down on the bed, and the paper is crumpled somewhere between her body and the comforter. Jess is straddling Lupe’s back, knees on either side and fingers trying to cram themselves under Lupe’s stomach. Lu’s shoulders are quaking with laughter and Jess can’t tell if it’s because she’s ticklish or because the situation is utterly ridiculous.
Her methods are completely ineffective, but Jess is enjoying the flimsy excuse to touch Lupe, to feel her body move underneath her. It’s rare that Jess gets a chance to touch her in the comforts of a real bed.
Eventually, Lupe stops resisting and Jess stops pursuing. Their laughter dies off until they’re sitting in silent stillness. Jess can feel her heart beating in her thighs where they’re still wrapped around Lupe’s hips.
The stillness stretches on until Jess lowers her upper body until she’s wrapped around Lupe like a human backpack. She rests her chin on Lu’s shoulder and takes the opportunity to nuzzle into her hair. It’s too physical - no, too affectionate - for Lupe’s tastes, but Jess thinks the roughness of their earlier movements cancels it out.
Lupe sighs underneath her, and it sounds oddly contented for someone who’s supposedly being pinned against their will.
Jess is going to miss Lupe like she’d miss her right arm. Like she’d miss her sight. Like she’d miss oxygen.
As in, Jess isn’t sure how she’s going to survive life without her.
Jess knows a few queers in Moose Jaw. There’s a surprising scene considering the city’s size. But Jess doesn’t know them. Not like she knows Lupe.
She lived her whole life without Lupe. She survived. But now that Jess knows what it’s like to have someone to smoke with, dress with, go out to bars with, and play ball with, she doesn’t really want to go back.
Jess inhales Lu’s scent. All shampoo and a hint of something unique to Lupe. After spending so many hours in her presence, Jess would know her without sight. By touch, by smell, by the sound of Lupe’s boots on the ground. By the taste of her sweat when Jess drags her tongue up the skin behind Lupe’s ear in the empty locker room.
Jess doesn’t want to move. Doesn’t want to step into the future, where their easy touches are only memories.
But she is curious about the paper in Lupe’s hands. The wrestling wasn’t entirely a farce. She drags herself up into a seated position, but she doesn't climb off Lupe. Lupe turns her head and looks at Jess over her shoulder. Her eyes are dark and searching. Jess always feels naked when she’s under Lupe’s gaze. Like she sees right through her.
Something twists in Jess’ stomach. It’s a strange mixture of arousal and grief and something intense. Something next to anxiety, next to fear.
“You gonna let me up so I can show you?” Lupe asks, her voice rough and slightly muffled by the rumpled blankets.
“I’m thinking about it,” Jess says, and she’s surprised at how scratchy her own voice sounds. Lupe seems surprised as well, her dark eyes darting back again and her eyebrows drawing. Maybe she can’t see through Jess after all – maybe she can’t see the desperation Jess has felt for the last few days whenever they’re in the same room. Maybe she can’t feel the way Jess wants to dig her nails into Lupe’s skin so she can’t go back to Texas or Mexico or wherever the wind takes her next.
Jess lifts her weight enough to let Lupe turn over onto her back, but she sits right back down after. Now she’s essentially sitting in Lupe’s lap.
Lupe looks at her with a mixture of annoyance and fondness. “You ready?” She asks, raising her eyebrows and uncrumpling the paper.
Jess raises her own. “I think so.”
Lupe flips the paper over and hands it to Jess. Jess smoothes some of the wrinkles and takes a look. It’s a train ticket. It’s a train ticket from Rockford, Illinois to Billings, Montana. It looks exactly like the ticket on Jess’ nightstand. Right down to the departure time.
Jess’ eyes flash back and forth from the ticket to Lupe’s face. Lu is smirking and her cheeks are tinged red.
“Are you fucking with me, Garcia?” Is the first thing that comes out of Jess’ mouth once the initial shock has passed.
“Y’know, I always thought Montana would be nice in fall. No better time to cross that one off my bucket list, right?”
Jess punches Lupe’s shoulder. “Are you fucking with me?” She asks again.
“I didn’t even realize it was on the way to Saskatchewan. I looked at the map at the station and thought: ‘Wow!’” Lupe is grinning with her teeth now, and Jess is fighting the smile dragging at her own lips.
“Wow,” Jess repeats.
“Wow,” Lupe says again. “Would you mind if I followed you across the border? Now that I’m going to visit the great state of Montana, it seems like a waste not to visit my northern brother.”
Jess’ barely suppressed smile bursts into a grin. She’s running on autopilot when she cups Lupe’s cheeks and crashes their lips together. Their teeth click, but Jess doesn’t care. She doesn’t stop to apologize. Instead, she sinks her hands into Lupe’s curls and angles her head for better access. Jess presses her tongue desperately against Lupe’s lips, and Lupe immediately parts them.
Her hands are on Jess’ waist, warm and steady where the fabric of her white tank top separates their skin. Jess feels high on the knowledge that she no longer has to say goodbye to Lupe in less than a day. The anxiety that’s been hanging over her for weeks suddenly vanishes. Jess feels light, like she could float away if Lupe took her hands off of her, or if she loosened her legs from where they wrap around Lupe’s waist.
Jess remains tethered to the Earth.
She bites Lupe’s lip, and her responding hum sends warmth spreading through Jess’ abdomen. Lupe drags her hands up Jess’ body, tracing her ribs, squeezing her breasts, and lingering on the muscles in her arms. Eventually, she knots her fingers into Jess’ hair and unravels the braid that was already coming loose. Jess’ hair is sort of greasy, but Lupe doesn’t seem to care as she cards her fingers through it. Jess can’t help the groan that leaves her lips when Lupe drags her head back using her grip on Jess’ hair. She exposes the line of Jess’ throat and trails her lips down. Jess’ breath comes out stuttered, and God she wants Lupe so badly.
She wants her so badly that she can almost forget that it’s broad daylight and Esti, or anyone, could walk into Lupe’s room at any moment.
Does it even matter anymore? The season is over. The Peaches lost the championship. Big whoop. Anyone who hadn’t already guessed that Jess and Lupe were queer was probably brain dead.
Lupe is sucking and biting Jess’ neck, probably leaving marks that would incur a fine from Beverly during the season. A particularly hard nip has Jess’ breath coming out unevenly and her hips grinding down against Lupe’s.
“Fuck,” Lupe says, her voice strained when she drags her mouth away from Jess’ skin. “Would’ve bought a train ticket earlier if I’d known you’d act like this.”
“This was all part of your plan?” Jess teases. “Take my innocence by bribing me with a visit?” The way her hands slide underneath Lupe’s shirt is anything but innocent.
“How can I take something you never had?” Lupe asks, and Jess scoffs indignantly. Lupe takes the opportunity to roll them over so they’re both on their sides.
“That’s an insult to my honor,” Jess argues as she shuffles her legs into a more comfortable position.
“Can it, McCready. I know you were doing queer shit with your friends at fourteen.” Lupe pinches Jess’ pale side to punctuate.
“Twelve, actually.”
Lupe laughs and Jess makes a face that communicates how much she isn’t joking.
“Damn,” Lupe says.
“I was a horny kid.”
“Right,” Lupe rolls her eyes. “Because you’re not a horny adult or anything.”
“Exactly,” Jess agrees sarcastically. “I’m not.”
Lupe pinches her side again, but this time the provoking touch transforms into a gentle one. She pushes up the fabric of Jess’ tank top to reveal more stretches of translucent skin. Lupe’s fingers stroke over the veins that run across Jess’ stomach. The skin is sensitive, and Jess’ abdominal muscles twitch and tense. Ninety percent of her thoughts drain out of her brain.
“Horny adults don’t usually fuck in a house full of people in the middle of the day,” Lupe suggests, and Jess is confused for a second. Lupe’s touch is like a fog in her brain, but after a moment she remembers what they were talking about.
“Good thing we’re not fucking,” Jess says, but her voice comes out just a touch too breathy when Lupe’s stroking fingers dip below the waist of her jeans.
“Hm,” Lupe says. She uses her free hand to trace the edge of Jess’ lower lip, and Jess can’t help herself from flicking her tongue out and dragging it across Lupe’s fingertip. “Hm,” Lupe says again, and she dips her fingers into Jess’ mouth.
Jess’ cheeks burn – Lupe’s tone is almost judgmental, but Jess knows it’s all a bit. Lupe is trying to rile her up. It’s working.
Jess sucks Lupe’s fingers and squeezes her thighs together. She wishes Lupe would finish her ego trip and touch her, but she also can’t deny that she gets off on their teasing dynamic as well. She can’t help the way her hips press forward when Lupe drags her palm over the front of her jeans.
“It’s like, one o’clock in the afternoon,” Lupe says it like it’s a casual observation and like her fingers aren’t pressing against Jess’ clit through the fabric of her pants. “We shouldn’t be doing this here.” Lupe slides her fingers out of Jess’ mouth, and Jess dislikes the loss. Lupe raises her eyebrows; she’s expecting a response.
Jess says nothing, but her eyes dart around the room until they land on the desk chair in the corner. She rolls away from Lupe and gets to her feet, unable to believe that they hadn’t come to this earlier.
“Are you leaving?” Lupe asks and laughs. It’s funny because despite her performative protests, Jess is absolutely a horny adult. Jess would never leave a situation like this.
She jams the chair underneath the doorknob. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’ll buy them some time in the event someone tries to come in. When Jess turns back to the bed, Lupe is sitting on the edge and watching her intently.
Jess steps between her legs with the intention of pushing Lupe onto the mattress once again, but Lupe is quickly dragging her down and pinning her hips with her leg. Jess tries to protest, but Lupe just rolls her eyes and leans more of her weight into the hold.
If she really wanted to, Jess could fight for the upper hand, and maybe win. But she doesn’t care. If Lupe wants to buy a ticket to come home with her and then come back to the house to fuck her until she’s biting back whimpers, Jess isn’t arguing. She’s a simple person with simple desires. And that sounds like a nice afternoon.
“Where were we?” Jess asks, raising her eyebrows.
“Right about here,” Lupe answers, moving her leg so she can pop the button on Jess’ jeans. Jess lifts her hips so Lupe can yank them down. Once they’re near Jess’ ankles, she kicks them into the middle of the room.
Lupe drags her hands up Jess’ exposed thighs. There’s a harsh line where Jess’ legs go from a light tan to a stark white. They’re coated with a dusting of blond hair that’s been growing back since charm school.
“I can’t believe you’re coming home with me,” Jess says. She can’t keep the tease out of her tone. Lupe glares at her as her hands reach the junction of Jess’ thighs. “Just can’t stay away, can you?”
“Oh, I can’t stay away?” Lupe asks, irritated. Jess could pump her fist in victory. “You’re the one barging in here and pinning me down and cramming a fucking chair under the door.”
“So what?” Jess asks because she can’t control herself. Because she likes to piss Lupe off.
“So what?” Lupe repeats, scoffing. Her fingers are creeping underneath Jess’ boxers and tracing closer to where Jess has been wet since Lupe kissed her neck. Lupe isn’t watching what she’s doing; it’s like the motion is completely instinctive. Jess finds this hilarious and hot.
“Don’t act like I’m the instigator in this,” she says, knowing it’ll be the cherry on top.
“Wha –,” Lupe starts before locking her jaw and glaring at Jess. Jess smirks at her and Lupe shakes her head. “You drive me fucking crazy,” she says and takes the opportunity to finally – finally – stroke her fingers across Jess’ pussy. Lupe inhales quickly through her nose as her fingers slip inside easily. “Fuck, you’re so wet.”
Jess wants to give a snarky response, but Lupe drags a fingertip across her clit and Jess is exhaling sharply instead of speaking. Lupe rubs circles, the action made smooth and easy with how Jess is dripping.
“Shit, Lu,” she murmurs.
“Good?”
“Yeah,” Jess confirms. Lupe drops a light kiss onto the inside of Jess’ thigh, and Jess reaches down a hand to pet through dark locks. Lupe keeps her cheek rested against Jess’ leg as she touches her. It’s intimate and casual all at once.
Lupe’s hands are practiced. The first time she and Jess hooked up in an alley near Vi’s, Jess was shocked when she came on Lupe’s fingers while pressed against the brick wall. This time is no different; Lupe touches her with a steady rhythm and gentle pressure. Jess can’t help the way her legs spread further, and her fingers tighten in Lupe’s hair.
Lupe hisses as Jess pulls on her dark curls. “Fuck, can I eat you out?” The words alone send a surge of heat through Jess, and she nods frantically.
Lupe finally drags her boxers off – thus far, she’s been touching her beneath them. Jess feels exposed and a little strung out. Here she is, no pants and her tank top rolled up over her chest, while Lupe kneels fully clothed in front of her. She can’t deny that it’s hot – Lupe in her buttoned-up shirt and crisp trousers staring down at Jess with her dark and heated gaze. It’s hot, but Jess also can’t wait to pop the buttons off Lupe’s shirt as she tears it off. She’d even take the time to sew them back on for her – or she’d trade favors with another girl on the team and have them sew the buttons back on.
Jess is too distracted to keep indulging in this fantasy when Lupe’s tongue is flicking over her clit and sending sparks of pleasure radiating through her body.
“Fuck,” Jess whimpers emphatically, her legs tensing and hips rising involuntarily.
“Good?” Lupe asks, only pulling her mouth away for a brief moment.
Jess strokes her hair. “Mm,” she murmurs. She feels dizzy and distracted, but she pulls out enough focus to open her eyes and look down at Lupe. “Yeah.” She relaxes her grip and combs Lupe’s hair back with her fingers. “You’re good. That’s why I gotta take you home with me, eh? Can’t get nothing like this in Moose Jaw.”
“No?” Lupe asks, and the vibration of her words makes Jess buck her hips. It’s so hot to see Lu like this, down on her knees and glaring up at Jess with such intensity in her eyes.
“No,” she growls and once more knots her hand in Lupe’s black curls. This time when she tugs, it seems to awaken something in Lupe. She growls and sucks on Jess’ clit before slipping two of her fingers inside her. The slide is so easy and Jess whines as Lupe strokes inside her. Jess can’t help rocking her hips to meet Lupe’s thrusts. It’s overwhelming and yet Jess still wants more, wants to chase this sensation so it never ends.
Jess comes quickly. She always comes quickly with Lupe. Lupe is thrusting her fingers and circling Jess’ clit with her tongue when Jess’ orgasm crests. Her hip makes a popping noise as her muscles tense, and her head hits the wall when she slams it backwards. The pain does little to distract from the pulses that echo through Jess’ body.
It’s been a nice fucking afternoon. Jess learned that her best friend was coming home instead of leaving forever. She was also treated to an excellent orgasm by said best friend.
The baseball season is over, so Jess can only be so happy. But it’s been a nice afternoon.