73. Everything's Gayer in Texas

       The couple’s alarm went off at 8 AM and Waverly rolled off of the redhead to shut it off. She flipped to her back, stretching with a groan. Nicole rubbed her eye with a yawn, tugging the blanket up to her chin and watching the brunette wake herself up. She let out a content hum as she scooted towards her, wrapping her arm around her torso as she pushed a couple of kisses into the side of her shoulder. Waverly pushed her hand through her hair, working out a couple of tangles as she worked up to her face. She turned her head, cupping her cheek as she met her lips. “Mm. Morning,” the smaller girl sleepily smiled after a couple of seconds. 

       “Morning,” Nicole responded, resting her chin on her chest as she moved her body onto her front. 

       Waverly leaned her head back on the pillow as she wrapped her arms around her, sliding her hand up and down her bare back. Nicole snuggled into her chest, closing her eyes as she ran her thumb across her upper arm a few times.

       The brunette shook awake, realizing she had nodded off. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand, seeing that thirty minutes had passed. She sucked in a deep breath, “Shit.” She rubbed her face before tapping her hand on the redhead’s shoulder a few times. 

       She let out a small whine, keeping her eyes closed. “No me gusta,” she muttered half-asleep. 

       She annoyedly pulled the quilt off of them. “Cole, we gotta get ready,” she yawned, running her hands down her waist.

       “Mm-mnm.” 

       “Baby, we’ve gotta be at the stadium by 11. It’s already 9.” 

       That certainly woke her up. 

       It was officially their 3rd full day in the US. The day before, they had traveled around to all the museums Waverly had insisted on, ending the day with the aquarium. And it was finally the 28th; the day of the first of the three Rangers games.

       The redhead blinked up at her with a grin for a few seconds, but the brunette gave her butt a squeeze. “Get off, we’ve gotta get ready!” 

       “If you’re threatening me with that, maybe I don’t wanna,” she smirked, pushing up to hover over her face. 

       “Don’t even start, Morning Breath,” Waverly grumbled as she rolled her off and slipped off the bed. 

       “Hey!” Nicole crawled off the bed and followed her into the bathroom. She was standing at the mirror with a big smirk on her face, undoing her hair from the messy bun it was in. “That was mean,” she mumbled as she crossed her arms with an angry pout. 

       Waverly turned around and went over to her, pulling her arms down. “What’s wrong?” She questioned, mocking her pout as she slid Nicole’s hands down to her ass. 

       “You’re mean to me.” 

       “I am ?” She questioned innocently, backing her up to the wall and running her finger down her neck. “How so?” 

       Her innocent grin turned sly as she felt the vibrations of the growl she let out. The Sheriff cupped her ass tightly with one hand as she rolled her lip down with the other, latching on. Waverly let out a whimper, feeling Nicole slot her thigh in between hers, tugging her flush against her. She slipped her tongue into her mouth as she ground on it, letting out a heavy sigh. 

       Though, it didn’t seem to be cutting it for the redhead for whatever reason. She quickly pushed off the wall, lifting her and dropping her on the counter by the sink, attaching her lips to her neck. 

       “No marks,” she breathed out. Nicole pulled back, looking up at her with an upset brow. “I forgot my hickey foundation,” she added with a sorry shrug. 

       She pursed her lips at her, shaking her head. “I guess I’ll have to be careful then,” she sighed without a hint of a smile. 

       Waverly’s eyes widened and she dropped her head, nipping at her collarbone as she pulled the front of her sports bra down, exposing her breasts. The brunette squeezed her fingers into her shoulders as she slid her hands to her waist, wrapping her lips around a perked bud, doing the same to the other after a few seconds. She pulled back, tugging the bra all the way off her before doing the same with her sweatpants. She ran her hands up her thighs, slowly pushing her right thumb through her folds and rolling it around.

       The smaller girl tipped her head back with a quiet moan, sliding her hand down her cheek. She looked up, though, seeing that the redhead had caught her thumb in between her teeth. She rolled her eyes playfully, plugging her mouth with it. She toyed her tongue around it for a few seconds before pushing it out and connecting their lips. 

       “Shower,” Waverly mumbled between kisses. “Two birds, one stone.” 

       Nicole pushed their foreheads together with a feral grin. “ So smart .” She pulled back, stripping her own bra and shorts before turning the water on. She walked back over to her and the brunette cupped her cheeks as she met her lips again. The Sheriff kissed down her body, dropping to her knees as she got to her stomach. The brunette cocked an eyebrow as she moved her legs over her shoulders, but the thought flew away as she began to suck along her inner thigh. 

       “ Nic ,” she whined as she slowly ran the tip of her tongue up her slit. The redhead smirked, gripping her waist and pulling her off the counter as she stood up, keeping her knees hooked over her shoulders, but letting her lean forward so she was upright. “What the hell are you doing?” She laughed, locking her fingers around the back of her head. 

       Nicole chuckled as she walked them into the shower, pushing her hands up on the bottom of her thighs and forcing her back to the corner of the shower wall. Waverly let out a startled gasp, gripping her hands on the ledge of the tile at the top where it stopped, looking down as she attached her mouth to her throbbing nub. “ Oh my God.” Her thighs on her shoulders and Nicole’s hands pushed up on her ass was all that was holding her the Sheriff’s whole 5 foot 9 inches in the air, balanced by the walls behind her. 

       This was definitely not how she had planned to start her morning. 

       She looked down at her with her mouth open as whimpers tumbled out, seeing how the Sheriff looked up and met her eyes as she added more pressure with her tongue. the younger girl let out a sharp cry, fingers digging deeper into the tile. “ Yes , like that, fuck ,” she moaned, head rolling back against the wall. Nicole boosted her up a bit, burying her face farther into her and hearing her pants quicken rapidly.

       She couldn’t help but smirk a minute later as, through the vice her thighs put on her head, she could hear her name echoing off the walls, knowing they’d be getting some looks when they walked out of their hotel room later. 

       She slowed her movements to bring her off the high before pulling her head back and looking up at her flushed face slowly returning to it’s normal color, giving her a dimpled smile. “Was that good, Babe?” She questioned as she backed her off the wall, sliding her hands up to her lower back and lowering her to her chest, knees hooking again. She moved her hands to her waist and lifted slightly so she could slip them off, then setting her down under the water.

       Waverly dropped her head to her shoulder, looping her arms around her neck. “Great, Babe.” She lifted her head, running her tongue up her chin to collect the wetness that lingered, getting a groan out of her when she connected their lips. She pulled back, turning them so the taller girl was under the stream. “I didn’t know you could do that,” she giggled, combing her fingers through the hair at the base of her neck. 

       “I don’t know if I should be offended, considering that you weigh barely a hundred pounds and I bench my weight every time I work out.” 

       The brunette shot her a look. “Can I gawk at your super sexy strength for three seconds without you going all you , please?” She pursed her lips before letting out a sigh, running both hands through her hair and flexing her arms. The younger girl smirked, grabbing her wrists and pulling her arms down to wrap around her body as she cupped her neck when she leaned up into a soft kiss. “ Much better.” 

.  .  .

       The Sheriff was practically jumping off the walls as they headed towards the stadium. “Would you chill out?” Waverly laughed as she dragged her along, getting in line for the metal detectors. 

       “I’m excited!” 

       “ Wow , really?” It wasn’t very hard to tell, considering that she was decked out in Rangers’ attire. She had her signed cap, the jersey Waverly had gotten her, blue to red ombré shorts with the logo on the side, red white and blue crew socks, and a pair of Rangers Converse that Waverly 1. Didn’t know Nicole owned. , and 2. Didn’t even know existed.

       Waverly looked a little ( a lot ) less insane. She only had one of Nicole’s Rangers baseball-tees that she had tied into a knot on the side and one of her at least eight snapbacks. The rest of her clothes were normal human clothes. 

       They got through security and got their tickets scanned, now making their way inside. The game wasn’t starting for another 45 minutes, so they hopped in the food line, knowing that since it was a Rangers versus Astros game, there was going to be more people there than usual, so this would be the best time to get some lunch and a drink. 

       20 minutes later, they were finally through the line and able to head to their seats. Waverly’s eyes bulged out when she went through their gate, seeing how much bigger the inside was in person than it looked in pictures and such. “Sick, right?” Nicole grinned as they walked down the steps to their seats. She nodded, looking out onto the field at the players warming up. Nicole stepped back, letting her enter the row first and sitting next to her. 

       “Ok, wait. Which one’s which?” 

       Nicole let out a little laugh, setting her cup in the cupholder and resting her food on her lap. “Rangers are in white, Astros are in navy.” 

       “Got it.” 

       The first inning was over just as quickly as it started, no runs scoring. But Nicole was too busy giddily explaining more of the game mechanics to the brunette to care. And Waverly loved hearing her talk about it, so she didn’t mind. 

       “Why’s it called a ball?” 

       “I dunno,” she shrugged. 

       “Ok. But why do they throw them then if it could send them to first?”

       “Cause when you’re the batter, sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s gonna be a ball or a strike. Like a changeup? That thing will come at you like a fastball and disappear into the dirt like that . And you’ll swing at it cause you don’t expect it to drop. I even remember missing some of them catching, they go so fast.” 

       “And it’s all on how you hold it?” 

       She nodded, leaning down and grabbing her root beer bottle, using the bottom of it as a reference. “So this is a four-seam, right?” She curled her fingers around it like she had taught Waverly, for that was the only pitch she did when they were screwing around at the training facility on occasion. The smaller girl nodded. “Well, this . . .” She moved her pinky to the underside of the bottle and slid her ring finger up closer to the top, spacing it about an inch from her middle that was directly on the top. She curled her pointer finger to make a half a circle, touching the tip of it to her thumb, which was in the same position as her pinky, but on the opposite side. “Is a changeup.” 

       She furrowed her brows at it before looking back up at her. “That’s weird.” 

       “Right?” She looked up at the crack of a bat, seeing that one of the Astros hit a hard foul. “During my Senior year, we played this kid that threw a nasty splitter. It looks kinda similar to a changeup, but his was fast .” She began to position her fingers on the bottle, but stopped, feeling something hit her shoulder. She turned her head, seeing a bottle cap sitting on the concrete behind her. “The hell?-” She looked up, trying to figure out who threw it, but her eyes landed on a familiar face. “Do you want me to beat your ass?” She asked, unsuccessfully hiding a smile. 

       “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” 

       Waverly turned her head, seeing a fit guy with a wicked smirk sitting two rows above them. He had a jet black undercut pompadour with a well-kept short beard. His eyes were piercing grey and face was fit to be a model. Her eyes widened a bit because, yea, he was pretty hot. 

       “Oh, you know I would,” she replied, wiggling her eyebrows. The brunette continued to blink confusedly between them.

       He let out a laugh, standing and plopping down in the chair a row down where no one seemed to be sitting. “Where’ve you been, Paisan?” Waverly thought she had heard some Italian in his accent, and that slang proved her right. 

       “Up in Eskimo Land, aye. D’you stick around here?” 

       “Kinda? The Marines send me everywhere, but I’m on leave right now. Joined right after I graduated.” 

       “Look at you ,” Nicole teased, swatting at his leg, but the band on his finger caught her eye. “You find your Juliet?” She questioned with a smirk. He threw her a hard glare but turned his head. 

       “Romeo, come help me!” A man whined from the top of the stairs. 

       She let out a sigh, pushing himself up from the seat. “Be right back.” He climbed the stairs towards him, helping him with the armful of food. 

       “Is his name actually Romeo?” Waverly questioned with raised brows. 

       Nicole nodded with a grin. “And guess how much shit I’ve given him about it.” Oh, she could only imagine. 

       Romeo and the other man returned, sticking with the seats one row back from them, seeing that no one was there anyway. The other one was tall, but skinny. The top of his head was dyed metallic purple over the otherwise brown hair that was tapered on the sides. He had round brown glasses with a shaved face and a sharp jaw. 

       “ Oh my God , I love your nails!” Waverly gasped, taking his hands in her own and looking at the red, white, and blue marble design on them. 

       “I know ! They’re so cute, I love them!” He squealed, looking up at her with a binding smile. “I still have no idea who you people are.” He glanced between her and the redhead.

       “I’m Nicole, that’s Waverly. I went to high school with his bitch ass,” she informed with a smile, pointing at Romeo. 

       He did a long nod in understanding. “I’m Rory; Bitch Ass’ husband.” 

       “When did y’all get married?” Nicole asked Romeo as Waverly gushed over the band on his finger that matched his. 

       “New Year’s Day this year,” he smiled. Nicole awed. 

       Rory lifted the brunette’s hand, mouth hanging open as he saw her ring. “ Girl .” 

       She looked up at him with a smirk. “ Mhm .” 

       “ You keep her.” 

       “I plan to as long as she stops whispering about me while I’m right next to her .” She threw the redhead a glare and she pulled her head back from next to the Italian’s face. 

       “I’m just telling him how amazing you are, Love,” she said with a dimpled smile. 

       “You're really pushing it today," she warned. 

       Nicole gave her an apologetic pout, cupping her cheek and pushing a kiss to the opposite. She paused, though, staying near her ear. "Just think about this mornin', ‘n you'll forgive me," she husked in a whisper. Waverly bared her teeth with a cursed insult, smacking her arm. 

       The guys laughed at that. "So when are y'all making it official?" Romeo asked. 

       “We’re not sure yet,” Nicole sighed, leaning her head on her arm as she looked over to the brunette. “We’re thinking next year sometime. We do know it’s going to be at the house where she grew up and that it’s not gonna be a big fancy thing, though.” 

       “Aw,” Rory cooed. “See, I wanted something small, but someone wanted to go all out.” 

       “We got married in Hawaii , are you really complaining?” He questioned with a laugh. 

       “. . . No .” 

       “Mm, didn’t think so,” he smirked, squeezing his thigh. 

       Waverly’s eyes widened, looking towards the redhead. “No.” She gave her a pout. “ Homestead . We don’t want everyone around during our honeymoon, do we?” Her face relaxed almost too quickly, realizing that was a good point. Nicole looked back towards them. “Why Hawaii, though?” 

       “I guess it’s a theme, really,” Romeo admitted. “We met at a pool about 5 years ago; he was a lifeguard and I was there with some friends. Then I proposed in front of a waterfall two years ago, so we decided to take it all the way for the wedding and head to Oahu.” Waverly gave him a happy pout. 

       “What about y’all?” Rory asked. “What’s your magic fairytale?” 

       “She pulled me over last year cause she was bored and we got together three days later,” she said with a little shrug. 

       “First of all, your tail light was out-”

       “No, first of all ,” Romeo interrupted. “You’re a cop ?!” 

       “Yep-” “ Sheriff ,” Waverly corrected over her, throwing her a look. She made a face, putting her hands up. 

       “And what’re you?” He questioned. 

       “Bartender-” “ A college student working on her Bachelor of Education ,” Nicole cut, mocking her previous glare. 

       They both nodded slowly at the two, enjoying their casual banter. “I remember you wanting to be a cop, but I didn’t think you’d . . . actually do it,” the Italian mumbled. 

       “And why is that?” The redhead questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

       “You weren’t a very law-abiding citizen, Haught.” 

       “You were worse than me, but ended up as a Leatherneck. What’s your point?” 

       He blinked at her for a second before nodding. “Fair.” 

       “Ok, now here’s the real question,” Waverly started, looking between Nicole and Romeo. “How did you two cross paths?” 

       Their eyes widened, both mouths falling open. “ Uhh .” Waverly and Rory cocked an eyebrow at them. “Baseball.” “A football game.” 

       Nicole’s head snapped towards him and she smacked his leg. “ Baseball .” 

       “Baseball,” he confirmed with a quick nod. 

       “Y’all sure about that?” Rory questioned slowly. 

       Nicole looked towards him from the silent eye conversation they were having. “Mhm! Right, Shakespeare?” 

       “ Correct .”

       Waverly and Rory looked towards each other again, squinting at one another as they tried to figure out why they were seeming to be hiding something. They both suddenly gasped, though, looking towards their partners. “ Wait a minute . . .” 

       “ No ,” they said with wider eyes, shaking their heads almost in warning, having predicted their prediction. 

       Waverly broke first with a snort, clapping her hand over her mouth. Rory was soon behind, resting his hands on his knees as he laughed hysterically. “I really hope you’re laughing at what I’m laughing at,” he wheezed. 

       She tried to speak, but couldn’t for a few seconds. “ Oh my God , they slept together!” 

       Loud, pained groans came from the duo as they sunk down in their chairs and covered their beet-red faces, Nicole with the top of her jersey and Romeo with his hands, only furthering their suspicions to a level of certainty. 

       The two calmed their giggles after a few seconds, moving to console their partners. Waverly ran her thumb across Nicole’s hand as she gently coaxed it away. “Baby.” The redhead let her eyes peek out the top, looking at her with a glare. “I’m sorry. We’re done laughing at you two.” 

       "I'm sure you are," she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. 

       Waverly pouted at her, hooking her finger on her chin and pulling her into a gentle kiss. She smiled, feeling the redhead relax into it. She pulled away, pushing their foreheads together and rubbing her cheeks. "Just saying. If he was straight, I'd use a hall pass on him," she winked with a pat. 

       Nicole shoved her back with a scoff to hide her laugh and was about to say something along the same lines that would have most definitely gotten her in trouble, but Beltré decided to send a ball far over the left fielder's head, saving her life. 

.  .  .

       The Rangers ended up sweeping the Astros and Nicole was over the moon. Waverly not so much. She had gotten used to baseball Nicole in the comfort of their own home when she watched the games on TV. But live baseball Nicole was that times 5 million. She only tolerated the redhead’s insanity because the De Luca’s had attended the other two games, so that meant that her and Rory could watch their partners embarrass themselves at a safe distance, pretending as if they had no idea who the face-painted, screaming maniacs were. 

       To celebrate the win, and, more so, Nicole’s return to the Lone Star State, Rory and Romeo decided to invite them over for dinner the next evening. And thanks to Waverly’s suggestion, Joseph and Luke were soon after invited to make it a proper Big Gay Dinner. 

       Nicole and Waverly had been put in charge of wine, so after getting dressed in the fancy clothes they had packed just in case some event, such as this, came up, they were off to the Walmart that was close by their house.

       "Question,” Waverly proposed, turning down the radio a bit. 

       “Shoot.” Her thumb continued to tap in beat with the who-the-hell-ever band’s now-quiet music. 

       “Is everyone here gay?” She asked, tipping her head at her. “Cause I feel like you haven’t introduced me to one straight person.”

       The Sheriff let out a little laugh. “What about Coach Carters?” 

       “Ok. Besides him.” 

       She gave her a little shrug. “To make it fair, you’ve met three people I’ve previously known, and I only knew one of them was gay before coming here.” She pulled into the lot, finding a spot to park. 

       “. . . Still .”

       “You know what they say . . .” She got out of the car, waiting for her at the front. “Everythin’s gayer in Texas.”

       “Absolutely no one said that,” she laughed, rolling her eyes as they walked inside. 

       “ I did,” the redhead said with a smile.

       Waverly sighed, pushing her along towards the section of liquor which was all the way on the other side of the store to their luck. “What kind did they want us to get?” The brunette asked as they moseyed on down. 

       “Well, Rory doesn’t like white, but Joe doesn’t like red, so I guess we’re getting both,” Nicole shrugged. 

       She nodded as they turned down the aisle, seeing a rather large selection. “Any brand preferences, Dear?”

       “Darlin’, you haven’t had the luxury of Texas wine,” she drawled as they walked down a little. 

       “Is that so?” 

       “No, not really,” she snorted as Waverly leaned forward onto their cart when they stopped. The redhead walked towards the shelf, reaching up to grab a bottle of red. 

       But she stopped mid-grab. 

       Her head jerked right, mouth coming slightly as she looked at the woman standing about five feet from her. She saw her sudden movement, turning her head and meeting her eyes, the same look appearing on her face. Waverly’s brow furrowed as she watched the interaction between the two, having no idea who the woman with dirty blonde curly hair, seeming to be in her late 30s-early 40s, was. 

       Her face relaxed first and she turned her body towards her. “Nicole.” Waverly watched her fiancée’s posture stiffen at her name as she turned a bit, dropping her arms to her sides with her fists tightly clenched. “I been hearin’ you'ere back in town.” She took a step towards her with a smile as she looked her up and down. 

       Nicole stepped back from her just as fast. “ Touch me ‘n I’ll talk,” she warned, staring at her with hard eyes.

       The smaller girl hadn’t expected to see that much fear flash onto the blonde’s face, but it did. 

       “You wouldn’t,” she said with a shake of her head. 

       “Try me.” 

       Her face shifted from fear to anger. “Like you’d risk all you have for some stupid- ” 

       “ Walk ,” she ordered, pointing in the direction opposite from Waverly. The woman looked towards the brunette for a blink before complying. Nicole walked over to her, pulling her wallet out, not once looking into her eyes. “Get two of each and get in the car.” She pushed some money in her hand, turning away. 

       “Nic,” she said softly with concern. 

       “ Go , Waverly,” she said without a second glance as she headed for the woman standing at the end of the aisle with her arms crossed. The brunette clenched her jaw with a swallow but walked towards where Nicole had been standing, grabbing two of that bottle and two white from the same brand before trudging towards checkout. 

       She shoved the bags in the trunk before getting in the driver’s side, running her hands worriedly down her cheeks. It was rare that she ever saw Nicole act like that with somebody, so what this lady’s part in her life had been was obviously not something she was very fond of. But whatever it was, she needed to find out about it to see if she had a murder to plan. 

       The redhead returned a couple of minutes later, sliding in the passenger’s seat and curling her knee to her chest, wrapping her arms around it with a heavy exhale. Waverly looked towards her, seeing how her eyes were fixed out the window. 

       She gently placed her hand on her thigh after a minute. “You ok, Baby?” She asked quietly. 

       “Yep.” 

       She didn’t believe that for one second. “Are you sure?” 

       “Yep.”

       “. . . D’you wanna talk about it?” 

       “Nope.” 

       She pursed her lips. “Nic.” This didn't seem to be something she was going to brush off.

       “ What , Waverly?” The Sheriff huffed, still not looking at her.

       The smaller girl pulled her hand away, angling her body towards her. “You know I’m trying to help you, right?” 

       “Was I not clear the two times I told you I was fine?” 

       “Can you at least look at me when I talk to you?” She asked, raising her eyebrows as her patience slowly tapered. 

       She put her foot on the floorboard, turning towards her and throwing her arms out. “Is this better for you?” 

       She closed her eyes, shaking her head as she pulled in a breath. “ Nicole ,” she warned, opening them. “Don’t be like that.” 

       She swallowed an eye roll as she turned back forward. “Can we just go? We’re gonna be late.” 

       “We’re not going anywhere until you explain to me what just happened.” 

       She grit her teeth. “Well, I guess we’re not going fuckin’ anywhere!” She unbuckled, climbing out of the car and slamming the door.