mines-camren

[mines-camren]

[mines-camren]

Maybe it’s too much, but I want obsession, consistency, and a love that consumes me.

[mines-camren]

Be with someone who fucking loves you and loves fucking you.

[mines-camren]

Caitlin Clark x Kate Martin Ch 18

Disclaimer: This is my first time writing a fic! Any feedback is welcome. Friends -> lovers, Caitlin's gay-awakening. I obviously don't own any of the rights to these characters etc.

This one is mostly smut xo

NSFW: Wlw, fxf etc, smut, all that good stuff.

March Madness P1 Freshman Year

It started the night before March Madness began.

Not on the court. Not in film study. Not even in the long, sleepless hotel rooms that smelled like cheap detergent and recycled air.

It started in Caitlin’s body. In the ache she couldn’t outrun. In the hunger that lived under her skin like a second, wilder heart.

She tried. God, she tried.

Shot until her arms burned. Lifted until her quads screamed. Counted calories like prayers. Ran film until her vision blurred.

But none of it drowned it out. None of it quieted the way she still felt Kate’s hands ghosting over her skin. The way her body lit up at the thought of her.

It wasn’t mental anymore. It wasn’t even emotional. It was cellular.

She showered too long, scalded her skin until it stung, and still crawled into bed feeling like her body wasn’t hers anymore.

It was Kate’s.

It had been Kate’s since January. Since the first time Caitlin had let herself say yes without calculating what she had to trade for it.

She hadn't touched her in days.

Not properly. Not the way she wanted.

Ever since before the Big Ten Tournament, Caitlin had been the one who set the boundary.

"I just need a little space during games," she'd said, palms pressed to Kate’s chest like she could push them both back into sanity.

Kate had nodded — understanding, steady, perfect. But now?

Now Caitlin was wrecked.

So wrecked she couldn't breathe properly without replaying what it felt like to straddle Kate's thigh. To bury her face against Kate’s neck and sob through coming harder than she thought she was capable of.

So wrecked she was grinding against the mattress like a fucking teenager — desperate, furious, miserable.

None of it stopped the restless throb between her legs — the low, crawling heat that had nothing to do with game day adrenaline.

She wasn’t thinking about UConn. Wasn’t thinking about the bracket. Wasn’t thinking about the headlines or the haters or the pressure.

She was thinking about Kate. Only Kate.

Kate’s hand gripping her hip. Kate’s voice in her ear — low, steady, wrecking — whispering, "Let go for me." Kate’s mouth dragging slow, reverent kisses down her body like prayer.

Caitlin shoved the covers off her body, trembling, heart pounding.

She made it until midnight.

She made it until the lights were off and her roommate — a freshman forward — snored two beds over.

She got up and turned on the shower.

Locked the door. 

Not because she wanted to. Because she had to. Because if she didn’t, she was going to tear her own skin off.

She stripped fast, reckless. Turning the water up so hot it stung. 

The second the spray hit her skin, Caitlin braced one hand against the cheap tile wall, chest heaving, body already vibrating with a hunger so deep it felt like it was eating her alive.

Caitlin squeezed her thighs together, desperate and ruined.

One hand slipped lower — frantic, rough, almost cruel.

Her body was alive. Screaming. Pulsing.

​​She didn’t tease herself. Didn’t take her time.

She attacked it.

Slipped two fingers over her clit — harsh, shaky, half a breath from sobbing — chasing the memory of Kate’s mouth, Kate’s thigh, Kate’s voice fucking her into dust.

There was no calculation anymore. No plan. No performance.

Only Kate.

Kate’s mouth against her throat. Kate’s hands dragging her shirt up, slow and clumsy. Kate whispering, "Come here, baby,"  low.

She slid three fingers inside herself — fast, frantic, no rhythm — just chasing it, chasing her, chasing the edge she could never quite reach without thinking of Kate.

She wasn’t patient. She wasn’t soft. She fucked herself like she was trying to tear the want out by force.

She bit into her own forearm to stay silent, teeth sinking deep enough to leave a mark.

She rubbed tight, desperate circles over her clit — gasping against the tile — riding her own hand like it could save her.

She was wrecked. Feral. Gone.

Every breath came ragged. Every nerve in her body screamed for one thing, one person.

Kate. Kate. Kate.

She came hard. Harder than she meant to.

No moan. No gasp.

Just a full-body convulsion against the slick tile. Silent. Shattering.

It ripped through her — brutal and hot and endless — and still, when it ended, the need stayed.

And still it wasn’t enough.

Still, the wanting stayed.

Still, her body shook with it — with the wild, awful truth of it:

She had never wanted anything like she wanted Kate. She had never wanted anyone like she wanted Kate. She had never even known it was possible to need like this. To ache this way. To burn so stupid and wrecked and raw inside her own skin. Just a shudder that ripped through her like she was trying to tear herself in half.

Her whole life, Caitlin had treated her body like a machine. Something to discipline. Something to control. She had starved it. Pushed it. Demanded it perform without asking what it needed.

And now?

Now it wanted. Now it begged. Now it screamed for Kate with every goddamn breath. There was no controlling it anymore. No shutting it off.  No shoving it back down.

There was only this:  the truth that had been waiting under her skin all along.

You are not a machine.You are not a brand.You are a girl who wants.You are a body that craves.

And she craved Kate.

Her mouth. Her hands. Her voice, low and rough against her throat, saying "Mine, Caitlin. Mine."

Caitlin sank to her knees in the shower, water scalding her back, hands trembling uselessly in her lap.

She scrubbed her skin raw.

Tried to wash the wanting out of her.

Tried to scrub herself back into someone who deserved to lead tomorrow.

It didn’t work.

It never worked.

She wasn’t strong enough to fight it anymore. Wasn’t stupid enough to pretend she wanted to.

She closed her eyes.

And it was Kate there. Always Kate.

Kate’s hand gripping her thigh. Kate���s mouth brushing her collarbone. Kate’s laugh — that stupid, cocky, wrecking laugh — when Caitlin begged without meaning to.

She pressed her forehead to her knees. Breathed through the ache.

And for the first time in her life, she didn’t hate herself for needing.

She just missed her. Missed her so much it broke her wide open.

And she stayed like that — ruined, shaking, alive — until the water ran cold and the world came back.

—---------

She slammed two iced coffees at breakfast.

Chirped at the freshman who cut her off in the bagel line.

Almost bit off her own tongue during team prayer.

Kate kept sneaking glances at her — that little frown between her eyebrows that only came out when she knew Caitlin was spiraling — but she didn’t say anything.

She just bumped her shoulder once during warmups.

Caitlin flinched like she’d been shot.

The first half was ugly.

Caitlin missed her first two threes. Got bodied hard on a layup. Bitched at the ref enough to get a warning.

Kate grabbed her wrist during a timeout. Pressed her forehead briefly to Caitlin’s.

"You're okay," she whispered. "You're right here."

Caitlin shook her off — not mean — just raw.

She knew she was being a bitch. She knew Kate was trying.

She just couldn't stop vibrating.

In the second half, they pulled away.

Caitlin found her shot.

Step-back three. Deep transition pull-up. No-look dime to Gabby under the rim.

She was flying.

High on adrenaline. High on her own body. High on everything she had no fucking clue how to contain anymore.

Kate caught a rebound and sprinted up beside her — bumping her hip, grinning, flushed, so pretty, so pretty, fuck—

And Caitlin snapped. She didn’t care if it was crazy. She didn’t care if it was reckless. She needed Kate to feel it. To know it. To carry it in her body too.

No warning. No filter. No mercy.

She leaned in — quick, breathless, feral — and whispered under her breath, grinning like a maniac: "I fucked myself in the shower last night thinking about riding your thigh."

Kate’s whole body seized.

She tripped mid-sprint. Nearly lost the ball. Eyes wide, cheeks flaming, hands flailing like she’d been shoved.

Gabby shrieked from the wing, "YO! PASS!"

Kate passed blindly. Somehow. By the grace of God.

Her ears were pink. Her hands were shaking.

Caitlin sprinted past her, laughing under her breath — wild, high, out of her goddamn mind — feeling the wreckage of what she’d just done buzz through her bloodstream like a drug.

Eastern Michigan stood no chance.

They won by twenty.

No one saw the real battle.

The battle Caitlin had already won — the moment she whispered in her ear and watched her fall apart.

The box score looked perfect.

But Caitlin still felt destroyed.

Every time she looked across the court and saw Kate, her chest tightened.

Every time Kate brushed against her — catching her waist after a rebound, bumping shoulders in the huddle — her body sparked like dry kindling.

She played hard. She played angry.

And when they won, she hugged Kate quickly and fiercely and shoved it all back down.

—---

Kate didn’t speak to her.

Not in the handshake line.

Not in the locker room.

Not on the bus.

She just stared at her — wild-eyed, shell-shocked, pink-eared — like Caitlin had personally reached into her chest and pulled her heart out.

Caitlin knew exactly what she was doing.

She didn't feel sorry about it. Not even a little.

If she had to suffer, so did Kate.

Later that night, Kate lay on top of the covers in her hotel room, staring at the ceiling like it personally offended her.

The TV played some crime procedural in the background — muffled gunshots, clunky dialogue — but she didn’t hear a word of it.

All she could hear was Caitlin's voice.

That stupid, fucking, cocky whisper.

I fucked myself in the shower last night thinking about riding your thigh.

Kate groaned into her pillow.

She wasn’t even touching herself. Couldn’t.

Every time she tried, she heard Caitlin’s laugh again — low, breathless, triumphant — and her whole body twitched like she was about to crawl out of her own skin.

Kate groaned into her pillow. She was so gone for her it wasn't even funny. She wasn't used to this.

Not the wanting — that was normal. Not even the needing — she’d been in love with Caitlin Clark for months now.

It was the losing control part.

The way one fucking sentence had ripped her right out of her body.

The way her hands still shook.

The way she could feel Caitlin’s smirk burning into her ribs even now.

Kate jammed a pillow over her face and groaned.

She was going to die.

Caitlin was actually going to kill her.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow they had to pretend to be normal again.

—------------------

The next morning at breakfast, Kate was a disaster.

She dropped her fork twice.

Tipped over her coffee.

Nearly bit through her lip trying not to stare at Caitlin across the table.

Caitlin, of course, was a menace.

Loose hoodie. Hair still damp from a shower. Grinning like she owned the fucking world.

She caught Kate’s eye once — just once — and winked.

Kate’s whole soul left her body.

McKenna elbowed her. "You good?"

Kate choked on her orange juice. "Fine."

Caitlin smirked into her yogurt like she hadn't just turned Kate into a living crime scene.

—----

Pregame warmups weren’t better.

Kate tried to stay locked in — run her drills, lead stretches, keep the energy up.

Caitlin was not helping.

She kept brushing against Kate.

Tiny touches.

A hand at her waist during defensive slides.

A bump against her hip after a made three.

A grin, loose and wild and devastating, every time Kate so much as looked at her.

By the time they circled up for the final pregame talk, Kate’s heart was hammering so hard she thought everyone could hear it.

—-------

The first half was pure torture.

Caitlin played like a goddamn demon.

Loose. Cocky. Reckless in the way only she could get away with.

Every time she nailed a three, she found Kate — eyes bright, mouth open around a gasp that was almost a moan.

Kate boxed out. She rebounded. She hustled.

She didn’t let herself think about it.

But it was there.

Burning under her skin.

Caitlin would run past her and bump her shoulder, just lightly, and it would feel like being set on fire.

Kate was gonna lose her mind.

Or her dignity.

Or both.

Halftime couldn’t come fast enough. They hit the locker room up by twelve.

Coach barked out instructions. The assistants handed out Gatorade.

Caitlin jogged past Kate to grab a towel — eyes dark, cheeks flushed, alive — and brushed her fingers across Kate’s wrist.

Just a graze.

Barely there.

Kate almost dropped her bottle.

Almost grabbed her right there by the hoodie strings and pinned her to the locker.

Instead she bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood.

Caitlin caught her eye.

Grinned.

Winked.

Kate swore under her breath and stared at the ground like it might save her.

—--

Second half was worse.

Caitlin didn’t ease up.

Not on the court.

Not on Kate.

She dropped another fifteen points like it was nothing — and every time she celebrated, every time she sprinted back down the court, she sent Kate one look.

Hot.

Daring.

Kate was gonna lose it.

Actually lose it.

Not on the court. Not at the game.

Later.

When she was alone.

When Caitlin wasn’t looking.

When the only thing left was her hands and the stupid, breathless memory of Caitlin laughing in her ear:

I fucked myself in the shower last night thinking about riding your thigh.

Kate wanted to die.

Or live.

Or both.

—--

After the win, the handshake line blurred.

Caitlin hugged her in the middle of the chaos — sweaty and smiling and fucking perfect — and Kate almost dropped her knees right there on the hardwood.

Caitlin pressed her mouth against Kate’s ear — quick, private, just between them — and whispered: "I love you."

Her heart was still pounding when she sat down in the locker room and dropped her head into her hands. "You're gonna kill me," she muttered.

Caitlin just smirked.

And Kate knew — God help her — this was only the beginning.

The locker room still pulsed with noise when Caitlin stumbled back in — cheeks flushed, jersey soaked, grinning so wide it hurt.

Music blasted from somebody’s speaker. Sneakers squeaked against the wet tile. Gatorade splashed against the walls.

Kate sat slumped against the bench, breathing heavy, still flushed from the win, still vibrating from the fucking whisper Caitlin had dropped on her mid-game.

Her mouth tasted like salt and madness.

Caitlin stripped her jersey off slow — too slow — pulling it over her head, hair sticking up in sweaty clumps. Her sports bra clung to her skin, damp and translucent.

Kate looked up. Looked away. Looked back.

A towel snapped near her head. McKenna shrieked with laughter. Someone dumped half a bottle of water down Gabby’s back. Jada leapt over a bench.

The chaos blurred.

All Kate could see was Caitlin.

Bare skin. Damp hair. Eyes glittering with something wild and merciless.

Little by little, the room emptied.

Coaches filtered out. Teammates peeled off — showers, trainers, phones buzzing.

Kate stayed seated.

Caitlin stayed standing.

Their eyes met.

Everything else went still.

The noise faded until it felt like they were breathing underwater — loud in their own bodies, drowning in everything they couldn’t say.

Kate’s hands clenched into fists on her knees.

Caitlin dropped her jersey onto the bench. Walked — slow, deliberate — toward the showers.

She didn’t look back.

Kate didn’t even pretend to hesitate.

The showers were still running — a few — but no voices echoed anymore. No footsteps.

It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered but the ache pounding in both of them.

Then Kate shoved her backward — hard — until Caitlin’s spine hit the cold tile wall with a thud.

Caitlin gasped — not from fear. From recognition.

From the knowing.

From the way Kate’s mouth crashed against hers like a threat and a promise all at once.

The second they were past the tile threshold Caitlin slammed the faucet open, letting the water roar to life.

Kate barely had time to blink before Caitlin grabbed her by the collar and kissed her — brutal, hot, filthy — under the pounding spray.

Kate gasped into it, hands finding Caitlin’s hips, gripping tight enough to bruise.

But then — then — she pulled back, panting, forehead pressed to Caitlin’s.

"You want this?" she rasped. "You sure?"

Caitlin let out a sound — half-sob, half-growl — and nodded hard, fists clutching Kate’s shirt like she was afraid she’d vanish.

"Say it," Kate whispered, eyes dark and burning. "Tell me."

"I want you," Caitlin gasped. "I want you so bad, Katie, please—"

Their chests collided. Their mouths missed. Their hands fumbled. Caitlin moaned — real, destroyed, reckoning — into her mouth. Her fingers clawed at Kate’s jersey, yanking it up, desperate, ruthless.

Kate tugged Caitlin’s shorts down her hips — fast, fumbling, half-ripping the waistband.

Caitlin gasped against her throat. "God, I need—"

Kate slammed her back against the wall, lifted her thigh between Caitlin’s legs, and ground up hard. "Fuck, baby," she whispered against her skin. "You think you can fuck yourself thinking about me, you think you can run your mouth on court like that, and I wouldn't ruin you the second I got you alone?"

Caitlin whimpered — actually whimpered — grinding into her, hips frantic.

"You thought you were in charge," Kate muttered, dragging her tongue slow, filthy, over the inside of Caitlin’s trembling thigh. "You thought you could tease me and walk away?"

Caitlin shook her head — wild, desperate — but it didn’t matter.

Kate shoved her shorts down — not careful, not slow — just desperate to get to her and had already slid her thigh back up between Caitlin’s bare legs. She had her caged against the wall, already had her body screaming.

Water beat down on their bodies, steam curling around them like smoke.

"You're out of your fucking mind," Kate whispered, voice rough, breath ragged. "Thinking you could get me this fucked up and not pay for it."

Caitlin clawed at her — fingers dragging over Kate’s sweaty back, nails biting into her shoulders.

Kate rocked her thigh up between Caitlin’s legs — slow, heavy, devastating.

Caitlin cried out — muffled it against Kate’s neck, panting, grinding helplessly.

Kate bit the curve of Caitlin’s shoulder — just enough to make her jolt, whimper.

"You don't get to do that and not get ruined, Cait."

"Fuck," Caitlin hissed, clutching at her shoulders, grinding down like she was trying to climb inside her.

Kate’s hands slid everywhere — slick skin, trembling thighs, desperate hips.

"More," Caitlin gasped, forehead pressed to Kate’s collarbone, hips snapping.

Caitlin’s hips moved like she couldn’t control them anymore — frantic, gasping, chasing friction.

Kate slid two fingers up the inside of her thigh — slow, testing — and found her soaked. 

"Jesus," Caitlin breathed.

Kate caught her wrists, pinned them up over her head with one hand.

Caitlin moaned —  grinding up into Kate’s thigh, chasing it like oxygen. Kate kissed her — messy, biting, punishing.

Kate pushed her fingers higher — slow, teasing, wicked — until Caitlin sobbed once into her neck.

"Please," Caitlin begged.

"You needed me that bad?" Kate murmured. "Needed to fuck yourself in a shower thinking about me?"

Caitlin whimpered — bucked helplessly against her mouth.

Kate ground her thigh up harder — relentless, merciless — and Caitlin almost broke.

"You think you can tease me like that and not get punished?"

Not yet.

Not yet.

Kate kissed her again — all teeth and tongue and bruised lips.

"Beg for it," Kate whispered, voice dark and electric against Caitlin’s ear.

Before Caitlin could answer, Kate bit — sharp, claiming — at the soft flesh just below her hip. 

Caitlin gasped — high and helpless. "I can’t—" she panted, grinding desperately, losing herself.

Kate squeezed her wrists tighter. Pressed her body harder into hers.

"You can," she growled. "You can beg. Or you can keep fucking yourself stupid on my leg until you come like the desperate little fucking mess you are."

Caitlin whimpered — bucked her hips harder — brain fried, body betraying her.

She'd never been like this. Never.

Never needed like this.

Kate grabbed her thigh harder, pulled her closer, pinned her against the wet tile.

She worked her slow.

Deliberate.

Murderous.

Let her squirm.

Let her grind down against her mouth helplessly.

Caitlin had never burned like this.

Never begged.

But now—

Now she didn’t care.

"Please," she gasped. "Please, Katie—fuck, I need—need you—"

Kate kissed her — rough, wet, claiming — and slid two fingers inside her, deep. Kate bit — sharp, claiming — at the soft flesh just below her hip.

"God, you're dripping for me," Kate breathed, stunned, filthy.

Caitlin broke.

Bucked against her hand, clutching at her, panting, riding her fingers like she was going to fucking die if she didn’t come.

"Is this what you needed?" Kate whispered, biting at her jawline. "You needed to be touched like you’re mine?"

Kate was relentless. Slick hands gripping Caitlin’s thighs, tongue working her in slow, devastating circles — never quite letting her tip over.

Caitlin writhed — desperate, begging, grinding into her face.

"You’re mine," Kate growled against her. "You’re mine, Caitlin Clark. Say it."

Caitlin choked out a moan — loud, desperate, wild — and cried, "I’m yours, Katie, I’m yours, please, don’t stop, don’t ever stop—"

Kate didn’t stop.

Didn’t even slow down. She fucked her through it — rough and raw and holy — mouthing filth against her thigh the whole time:

Kate curled her fingers just right — slow, sure, ruthless — and pressed her thigh harder between Caitlin’s legs. 

Caitlin shattered — not coming yet — just losing her mind.

Kate teased. Circled. Never quite giving her what she needed.

"You think I haven't been thinking about this every fucking second since you said that?"

Caitlin shook her head violently.

Kate kissed her temple — soft, almost cruel — while she circled her clit slowly and devastatingly.

Caitlin bucked against her hand, whimpering.

Kate finally — finally — slid another finger inside her, slow and deep and pushed down on her clit hard.

Caitlin screamed into her shoulder, hips snapping, trying to ride her hand.

Kate pinned her harder to the wall. "Take it," she growled. "Take it like a good girl."

Caitlin sobbed — real tears — clenching hard around Kate’s fingers. Kate fucked her slow, rough, relentless — curling her two fingers, grinding a third against her clit — while Caitlin came apart in her arms.

It wasn’t neat.

"Take it, baby."

It was messy, slow, brutal.

"God, you’re so fucking pretty when you break for me."

It was well deserved.

Caitlin came hard and fast, biting down on Kate’s shoulder to stay quiet, whole body trembling, thighs clenching around Kate’s hips.

Kate held her through it. Let her ride it. Let her fall.

"Good girl," she whispered. "Good fucking girl."

Caitlin broke.

Not once.

Not twice.

But over and over and over again — shattering on Kate’s fingers, sobbing into the back of her own wrist, collapsing down the wet tile until Kate had to catch her.

Kate held her through it. Held her through the spasms, through the shaking, through the collapse.

When Caitlin slumped, boneless and trembling, against her chest, Kate just kissed the top of her sweaty head.

“I love you," she whispered.

Caitlin clung to her — sweaty, ruined, wrecked — trembling like she’d just survived a natural disaster.

Kate’s hand moved slowly up and down her back — steady, soothing — like she knew exactly how to anchor her without trapping her. "You’re mine," Kate whispered. "You know that, right?"

Caitlin nodded against her throat — breathless, broken, blissed out. "Yeah," she gasped. "Yours."

Kate smiled — small, destroyed, and in love — and kissed her again.

The water still poured down around them — steam curling against the tile — but neither of them moved. Caitlin sagged against Kate, breathing in ragged little gasps, whole body trembling like a tuning fork.

Kate kissed her temple once, twice, three times — small, grounding touches — before easing them both down to sit on the slick floor, pulling Caitlin into her lap like she weighed nothing.

For a long, humming moment, they just sat there — Caitlin curled into her chest, heartbeat a frantic stutter against Kate’s ribs.

Neither of them spoke for a long time. The water kept beating down. Cooling slowly. Steam clinging to their bare skin.

Caitlin could still feel it. The echo of it. The way her body had given out in Kate’s hands — shattering like something holy.

Kate brushed her mouth against Caitlin’s temple. Soft. Worshipful.

"You’re okay," she whispered. "I’ve got you."

Caitlin whimpered — not from pain. From everything.

Kate didn’t rush her. Didn’t ask for anything. Just held her.

And when Caitlin finally shifted — blinking up, loose and flushed and completely wrecked — Kate smiled so soft it could have knocked her down.

Kate kissed the crown of her head and asked, quiet but serious: "Baby, can I ask you something?"

Caitlin nodded. Tiny. Floating. Still caught somewhere between heaven and earth.

Kate tucked a lock of wet hair behind her ear, fingers gentle. "Was that okay?" Kate asked, voice rough with the effort to stay soft, stay good. "I need you to tell me if anything wasn't."

Kate helped her sit up a little straighter, even though Caitlin stayed pressed tight to her chest — heat to heartbeat. "Okay?" Caitlin croaked. "Kate, I—" She broke off, laughing a little helplessly. "I don't even know my own name right now."

Kate shifted slightly, enough to meet her eyes fully. Enough to make sure she was seen. "I know you liked what just happened," she said, voice low, "but I need to make sure... was there anything you didn’t like?" I mean... what I said. How rough it got. Kate’s thumb brushed her cheekbone. "You can tell me if anything was too much."

Caitlin shook her head immediately. "No. God, no. I—" She flushed, but forced herself to say it. "I’m okay," Caitlin whispered fiercely. "I'm so okay."  She pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. "You didn’t hurt me," she said. "You didn’t scare me." 

Kate's arms tightened around her automatically — protective, careful, already so fucking gone for her. Tension she hadn't even realized she was carrying melted out of her chest. "Because I don’t ever want to push you somewhere you don’t want to go. Even if you’re begging for it in the moment. I need you to be able to stop me anytime," Kate said. "Even if you’re desperate. Even if you want it. I’ll always stop if you need."

Caitlin cupped her face — trembling, sure. "I know," she said. "I know you will. That’s why I can let go like that. That’s why I want it with you." She curled a little closer, bare thighs brushing Kate’s lap. "You didn’t push me," she whispered. "You gave me exactly what I needed."

"I want to make sure though," she said. "When I talk to you like that — when I touch you like that — it’s good?" Caitlin blushed harder. Buried her face against Kate’s neck. Kate chuckled, warm and easy. "Superstar," she teased. "You can’t say filthy things to me mid-game and then turn into a turtle now."

Caitlin laughed — breathless, wrecked — and pulled back just enough to meet her eyes.  "I feel safe with you, Kate. Even when I'm begging. Even when I'm stupid with it."

Kate let out a broken, wrecked little laugh. Rested their foreheads together.

"And the way I talked to you?" Kate said, softer. "Calling you my good girl. Telling you what to do. That was okay?"

"I like it," she said, cheeks burning. "I like... when you tell me what to do." She swallowed. "I like when you’re rough with me."

Kate’s pupils blew wide, dark with want and something deeper — something careful and reverent. 

"Okay," Kate said again, slower this time, letting it settle between them. 

"I like when you’re rough," she said. "I like when you take it. When you take me."

Kate groaned low — deep in her chest — like Caitlin had just punched through the last layer of her sanity. "Anything you don’t want?"

Caitlin thought. Bit her lip. "Nothing mean," she said finally. "Nothing that feels like... like you don't love me."

Kate smiled so softly it almost broke her. "Never," she promised. "I couldn't."

"I’m yours," Caitlin whispered. "You don’t have to be careful if I tell you I want it."

Kate laughed low in her throat — dark and fond and wrecked.

"Okay, baby," she murmured. "You can have whatever you want." Caitlin flushed even deeper. Smiled so big it hurt.

Kate kissed her forehead. Sealed it like a promise. Caitlin tipped her head back to give her more room, still trembling, still dizzy, still not quite believing she was allowed to feel like this.

After a long, broken breath, Kate lifted her head again. "You tell me if you ever want something different," she said. “"You tell me if you want softer. Or slower. Or more."

Caitlin nodded. "I will," she promised. "I will."

"I just love you too much to ever hurt you by accident."

"You won’t," Caitlin whispered. "You don't."

Kate smiled — small, stunned — like she couldn’t quite believe Caitlin was real.

"I’m yours," Caitlin added. Voice wrecked but certain. "Always."

They stayed like that.

Breath tangled. Skin sticky and flushed. Hearts hammering wild and uneven against each other’s ribs.

The water had gone lukewarm. The floor dug into Caitlin’s hip. Kate’s hand curled loose around her wrist, thumb stroking a rhythm she could feel in her throat.

Neither moved.

Neither spoke.

There was nothing to fix. Nothing to take back.

Just the dizzy, trembling fact of being alive, being wanted, being known.

Caitlin buried her face against Kate’s neck and whispered, almost too soft to hear,

"I don't ever want to lose this."

Kate pulled her tighter — breath catching, fingers digging in like a promise.

"You won't," she said.

Caitlin didn’t know if she believed it yet.

But for now — with Kate’s heartbeat under her hand and her own body finally, finally quiet — it was enough.

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[mines-camren]

[mines-camren]

"i wonder if we ever think of each other at the same time."

[mines-camren]

I am good. I am loved.

[mines-camren]

Caitlin Clark x Kate Martin Ch 16

Disclaimer: This is my first time writing a fic! Any feedback is welcome. Friends -> lovers, Caitlin's gay-awakening. I obviously don't own any of the rights to these characters etc.

NSFW: Wlw, fxf etc, smut, all that good stuff.

previous chapters below: this chapter is set in CC's Freshman Year, January - Valentines Day.

It wasn’t a clean turn. No dramatic sunrise. No breakthrough in the mirror.

Just space. A little wider than before.

And Caitlin filled it differently.

She still woke up stiff most mornings. Still clutched her jaw through film study. Still counted calories more often than she wanted to admit.

But somewhere between the ache and the rituals she didn’t know how to stop, something started to shift.

Not a fix.

A softening.

They lost 80–87 to Northwestern at home.

Caitlin scored 23. Not bad, not enough.

She missed two late threes she would’ve hit last year. Didn’t have her legs under her. Tried to muscle through it. Afterward, she slammed her water bottle into the locker so hard it cracked. No one said anything.

Kate followed her into the tunnel. Didn’t talk. Just unwrapped Caitlin’s wrist tape while she sat with her face buried in a towel.

Later, when Caitlin stood in front of the mirror, she didn’t see a player. She saw a brand — tired, underperforming, expected to bounce back.

But when Kate tugged her down onto the couch, she surrendered. She didn’t argue. Didn’t pretend she was fine. Just let herself be held.

Not a recovery. But something.

Practice was good the day after.

Not perfect. Not effortless. But good. Her shot felt steady. Her body didn’t fight her. She didn’t snap at her teammates or check the clock every five minutes. She even laughed when Gabbie tripped during layup lines — a real laugh, not the polite kind she used to offer up when she was too tired to mean it.

Coach Bluder caught her once, just for a second, with a look that wasn’t quite a smile but wasn’t neutral either. Just watching. Clocking the change.

So was Kate.

She didn’t say anything. But she saw it.

The team went to dinner after — some hole-in-the-wall taco place Kate swore by. Caitlin usually made an excuse to skip nights like that. Homework. Treatment. Film study. But she went. Sat in the booth with her knees pressed against Kate’s, laughing at McKenna’s terrible impressions and stealing bites of queso off Jada’s plate.

It felt like college. The kind she always assumed was for other people.

At one point, someone put music on. Someone else knocked over a Sprite. They all screamed.

Caitlin didn’t flinch.

She just laughed again. Let the chaos wash over her like it belonged to her too.

Kate grabbed her hand under the table. Not in a way that asked for attention. Just in a way that said: I see you. I’m here.

And Caitlin squeezed back.

That night, she didn’t go to the gym.

Didn’t shoot 400 shots. Didn’t punish her body for needing rest.

She stayed in. Did some homework. Watched a dumb reality show with Kate on mute while they made each other guess what was happening based on the facial expressions. Caitlin got one right and threw a pillow in the air like she’d won the lottery. Kate tackled her.

They kissed between fits of laughter. Then again. And again, slower.

And Caitlin didn’t pull away.

Not once.

—---------

January 30, Ohio State on the road.

They lost again. 87–92.

Caitlin dropped 27. Ten rebounds. Should’ve been a statement. But she turned the ball over twice in the last minute, fouled out, and threw her mouth guard at her own feet. She didn’t speak on the bus. Didn’t eat dinner. She sat with her headphones in, volume low, eyes closed. Her jaw clenched so tight it hurt.

The locker room was dead silent. The bus even worse. Kate sat next to her and passed her a granola bar. Caitlin didn’t eat it. But she held it the whole ride home.

Kate didn’t push.

Just sat next to her and passed her a granola bar when they stopped for gas.

Caitlin didn’t eat it. But she held it in her hand the whole way home.

At practice the next day, Jan was already on court, rebounding for a freshman who couldn’t pivot. Caitlin laced her shoes in silence.

Shot for an hour.

Missed more than usual.

But she didn’t break anything. Didn’t curse. Didn’t punish.

Just kept shooting.

That counted for something.

In between games, life crept in.

On campus, snow turned to slush. Then it froze again. People slipped on the stairs outside the dorms and left their AirPods in puddles. The team started walking in packs, one hand on the railing, everyone cursing the weather and each other in equal measure.

She saw Dr. Grayson every week.

Sometimes they talked. Sometimes they sat quietly. Sometimes she couldn’t quite get the words right. But Grayson didn’t seem to mind.

“You’re getting closer,” she said once, at the end of a session.

Caitlin nodded. “To what?”

“To letting yourself be real.”

She didn’t know what to do with that. But it stuck.

Caitlin laughed more.

Not loudly. Not all the time. But more.

She started showing up for things. 

A team dinner at Gabbie’s apartment where someone tried to cook and nearly set off the smoke alarm. A movie night where they all fell asleep before the second act. A Target run where she and Kate got into a whispered argument about cereal brands and resolved it by buying three boxes.

The girls noticed. But no one said anything.

Not directly.

Just more invitations. More space made at the table. More nudges during practice that felt like care and not criticism.

Kate didn’t say anything about it. She didn’t have to.

The next week, Caitlin wore one of Kate’s oversized flannels to team dinner. When McKenna burned the bread and Gabbie spilled salsa down her sleeve, Caitlin didn’t flinch.

She laughed. Real and loud.

After, when they were walking home, Kate bumped her shoulder and said, “You looked like you were having fun.”

“I think I was,” Caitlin whispered.

—---

On February 1 they played Indiana. Ranked Indiana. Physical. Relentless.

They lost again. 72–85.

Caitlin scored 30. She looked like herself. Sharp. Unstoppable. But Kate played one of her worst games of the year — couldn’t hit, couldn’t guard, fouled early.

Caitlin tried not to show it bothered her. But it did.

Not Kate — the helplessness. The fact that she could drop 30 and still walk out feeling like she’d failed.

In the locker room, no one spoke. On the plane, Kate curled against the window and Caitlin watched the reflection of her own jaw clench in the dark glass.

When they landed, Jan pulled her aside and said, “You’re not always going to save us.”

It didn’t feel like comfort. But she nodded anyway.

—------

They won easily at Minnesota.. 94–68.

Blowout. Easy. Fun.

Caitlin played loose — nothing historic, just clean. She chirped at refs, high-fived bench players, even did a fake euro-step just to make Jada laugh.

Kate hit four threes. Gabbie banked one in and screamed like they’d won the Final Four.

Kate slapped her ass after a timeout and Caitlin rolled her eyes so hard she almost missed Jan saying, “You’re finally breathing out there.”

Afterward, the team went out. Just a bar downtown with sticky floors and bad lights. Caitlin wore one of Kate’s flannels and stood at the edge of the crowd for most of the night, drink in hand, hips still.

But when “Mr. Brightside” came on and Jada pulled her into the middle, she didn’t fight it.

She danced. Terribly. Off-beat. A little stiff.

But she danced.

Kate watched from the corner. Smiling like she knew exactly how big that moment was.

And later, in bed, Caitlin whispered, “I felt happy tonight.”

Kate pulled her closer and said, “Good. You deserve to.”

—--------

“You’re carrying yourself differently,” Grayson said once, mid-session.

Caitlin looked down. “Am I?”

“You used to walk in like you were apologizing for taking up space.”

Caitlin laughed — short, hollow. “Still kind of feel like that.”

“But now you’re letting yourself stay.”

Kate noticed the shift, too. She didn’t name it. But Caitlin saw it in the way she looked at her — steadier. Like she wasn’t waiting for Caitlin to vanish anymore.

There were good days.

Days when Caitlin felt the difference in her body. The way her shoulders dropped half an inch when Kate was near. The way her throat didn’t tighten when she reached for her. The way she stopped bracing for everything to be taken back.

Days where she let her hair down. Literally. Days where she took up space. Where she teased Kate in the locker room and didn’t shrink back when the room got too quiet. Where she ate three slices of pizza and only hated herself for one of them.

A Tuesday where they walked back from pinkies brushing, swinging their arms like idiots.

A Friday night where they made popcorn in a skillet and set off the smoke detector and ended up laughing on the floor in their socks, coughing through the haze.

A Sunday where they didn’t speak much at all, just curled together on the couch, bodies quiet and easy.

And then one night — a nothing night, a ramen-and-quizlet night — Kate leaned in and said, out of nowhere, “You’re lighter.”

Caitlin blinked. “What?”

“Not weight. Just… you.”

And Caitlin didn’t know what to say.

So she kissed her instead.

—--

But not everything was soft.

There were bad days.

Days where she woke up hating her reflection. Days where she skipped breakfast and pretended she was just “not hungry.” Days where she flinched when Kate touched her too gently.

Some nights Caitlin still sat in the bathroom with the water running, trying to unknot the tightness in her chest without letting it spill.

Some mornings she stared at her reflection for too long and hated how solid she looked. How visible.

She didn’t always tell Kate.

Didn’t always tell Grayson, either.

But the difference now was — she thought about telling them.

That was new.

—------

Their redemption shot against Indiana at home didn’t land.

They lost again. 72–85.

Caitlin dropped another 30 — her third 30-piece in two weeks. But Kate was quiet. Rattled. Off.

The locker room was heavy. No one yelled. No one cried. Just undressed like they were trying not to wake something.

Caitlin took too long in the shower. Her head against the tile. Eyes closed.

Kate waited outside.

Didn’t ask. Just waited.

They walked home in silence. Shared a protein bar on the couch like it was dinner. And when Caitlin finally spoke, she said, “I hate that this is who I am when we lose.”

Kate squeezed her hand. “It’s not. It’s just where you go.”

On February 11 Caitlin scored 39 points. 10 rebounds. 9 assists. At Nebraska. They won. 88–81.

Her best game in weeks.

She looked like joy in motion. Like someone who remembered why she played.

In the final minute, she hit a step-back three and pointed straight at the bench. Kate stood up and smacked her own chest like she’d been punched.

After the game, Jan didn’t say much. Just clapped Caitlin once on the back and said, “That’s the kid I remember.”

But Caitlin didn’t feel like that kid.

She felt like herself.

They didn’t talk about that night. The birthday night. The bar. The kiss.

But it was there.

In the way Kate poured her coffee. In the way Caitlin stopped bracing for the touch that followed.

In the way she looked at her reflection and, just once, didn’t flinch.

In the way she let herself be loved.

Not perfectly.

But real.

—-------------------

February 13th was one of those gray Iowa afternoons where everything feels half-dimmed. Caitlin’s wearing an old Iowa pullover, sleeves tugged over her hands, hair tied back. No eye makeup today. Just chapstick and the soft flush of nerves.

There was a small dish of heart-shaped chocolates on the table near the door of Dr. Grayson’s office. Caitlin noticed it the second she walked in. She didn’t say anything.

Grayson opens the session like usual. A few check-ins. A gentle, unobtrusive rhythm.  Caitlin sat like she always did — hoodie sleeves pulled over her hands, ankle tucked under the opposite thigh, shoulders rounded like she could fold herself small enough to slip out of view.

“You seemed unsettled today.”

Caitlin shifts. Shrugs. “I’m fine.”

“How’s this week feeling for you?”

Caitlin blinked. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s Valentine’s this week.”

Caitlin’s face didn’t change. But her breath hitched — just a little. Barely enough to notice. “It’s never really meant anything to me,” she said. “Just another day.”

Grayson nodded. “I’ve heard that before. But even if you’re not celebrating, the world around you tends to assume you’re supposed to feel something.”

Caitlin shrugged. “I guess.”

“And do you?” A long pause.

Then, softly: “I think I’ve spent most of my life trying not to.”

Grayson tilts her head. “Have you ever celebrated Valentine's day?”

That lands harder.

Caitlin hesitates. Her voice comes quieter. “Not really. It’s never felt like it was for me.”

“Because of your schedule?”

Caitlin shakes her head, but slowly. “Because of… a lot of things.” Finally, Caitlin says, “I think I always assumed it was something for other people. Girls who knew how to flirt. Who looked good in dresses. Who didn’t feel like they were always watching themselves from the outside.” She exhales, slowly. “I never really saw myself in any of it. I didn’t even know what I was missing. I just knew it felt like... a language I didn’t speak.”

Grayson tilts her head, just slightly. “Is it still that way?”

Caitlin lifts her eyes. Shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe not.” A longer pause.

Grayson folds her hands in her lap. Her voice is soft. Careful. “Do you have someone?”

Then Caitlin asks — sharp, quiet: “You don’t… tell anyone, right?”

Grayson doesn’t flinch. “No. Never. Not unless you tell me you’re planning to hurt yourself or someone else. And even then, we’d talk first.”

“Even if it’s about… something I haven’t told anyone?”

Grayson nods again. “Especially then.”

A long pause. Caitlin doesn’t move.

The room feels smaller. Or maybe she does. Like she’s folding in on herself, trying to disappear before the words betray her.

But then — finally — her voice comes. Small. Scraped raw. “Yeah, I do. Have someone…”

Grayson doesn’t jump in. Just lets the words settle. A moment passes.

Then, gently: “Do you feel safe with them?”

Caitlin nods, once. “Yes. More than anyone.”

Grayson tilts her head, reading the air between them. “Would it help to talk about them?”

“Her.” Caitlin flinches like she’s been caught. She flinches, instinctively — not from shame, but from exposure. Like she’s just said something dangerous out loud.

Grayson doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. Doesn’t rush to comfort or make it easier. She just stays there — grounded, steady, present.

Then, gently: “Say that again.”

Caitlin swallows. Her voice comes quieter. Truer.

“It’s a her.”

Grayson nods once, slow. “Thank you for telling me.”

Caitlin shakes her head immediately. “I don’t even know what that means, I just—she’s the only thing that feels real sometimes. And I hate that it’s this scary.” Caitlin swallows. Then, for the first time, lifts her eyes and says: “She makes me feel… like I can breathe.”

Grayson doesn’t react. Doesn’t blink. Just lets the words land. Caitlin blinks fast, once. Then looks down again.

“I haven’t said that out loud yet.”

“Said what?”

“Her,” Caitlin whispers. “That it’s a her.” She rubs the heel of her palm into her eye. She’s not crying — but she might. “I’ve known for a while. And she knew before I said anything. But this is the first time I’ve said it where someone could write it down.” Another silence. Not heavy — just full.

“What feels scary?”

“Everything,” Caitlin says. “Wanting her. Letting her see me. The fact that I’m saying this out loud and it’s not killing me.” Then Caitlin shakes her head, like she’s trying to clear it. “Sometimes I feel like there’s a version of me everyone’s already decided on. The brand. The role model. The All-American. And that version doesn’t get to say her.”

Grayson lets the moment breathe. “Do you want to be that version?”

“It’s terrifying,” Caitlin answered. “Because I’ve spent my whole life being a version of myself people are proud of. The version they can cheer for. Market. Put on a magazine cover. There’s a part of me that keeps waiting for someone to take it back. Like it’s a mistake. Like I’m living someone else’s life and eventually I’ll wake up and go back to being who I was supposed to be.”

“Who were you supposed to be?”

Caitlin laughs — bitter, breathless. “The safe version. The girl they can put on posters. The one with a boyfriend she doesn’t have to like.”

“And this version?”

“This version is gay. And scared. And messy. And in love.”

Grayson lets that sit. 

“Have you ever said that last part before?”

“Only to her.” Grayson nods. 

“Does she love you back?”

“Yeah.”

Then asks the question Caitlin’s been avoiding: “So why are you afraid?”

Caitlin opens her eyes. Her voice cracks. “Because if I let this be real, it might break everything else.”

“What does ‘everything else’ mean?”

“Basketball. My family. What people think of me. Who I’m allowed to be.” She sucks in a sharp breath.

Grayson stays quiet. Lets it land. “You’re doing something brave,” she says. “Not because you’re gay. Not because you’re in love. Because you’re letting go of the version of yourself that made other people comfortable.”

“I hate that I’m scared. Because being with her doesn’t feel wrong. It doesn’t feel like something I should have to hide.”

Grayson breathes in once, then asks: “What would it mean to keep saying it? ‘Her’?”

Caitlin looks at her. Voice shaking: “It would mean I stop pretending. Stop splitting myself into pieces. Stop wondering if love only counts if it looks a certain way.”

“And how would that feel?”

“Terrifying.”

A beat.

“Free.”

Grayson gives a small nod. “That’s often the pairing.”

Silence stretches. Grayson paused. Measured. Then: “Can I ask you something else?”

Caitlin almost smiled. “Isn’t that the deal?”

“It is. And you can always say no.” Grayson paused. “Have you and she… been physically intimate?”

For a second, Caitlin didn’t move. Her hands folded tighter in her lap. Her shoulders curled in like she was trying to brace for the question’s weight.

Grayson’s tone stayed level. “You don’t have to answer.”

Caitlin shook her head. “No — I want to.” A breath. “And yeah. We have.”

Grayson nodded. Not surprised. Not intrusive. Just steady.

Caitlin swallowed hard, like something bigger was still caught in her throat. “Why does that matter?”

Grayson met her eyes. Kind, unflinching. “Because it lives in your body. And most of what we’ve talked about... has been how you leave it.”

That landed. Caitlin looked up. Not angry — just struck. Grayson waited. “What was it like?” she asked, carefully. “Not the act. The experience.”

Caitlin looked away. Her voice came quiet. “It felt like I didn’t have to prove anything…. Like my body wasn’t a thing I had to explain.”

Grayson nodded.

“Do you want to keep going?”

Caitlin did. She just needed a second.

“It’s hard to… slow down sometimes,” she said. “I’ve been so used to thinking of intimacy as something I have to manage. Like a task. Like—make it good for them. Make it clean. Make it convincing.”

Grayson gave her a beat. Then said, carefully, “Do you remember what you told me you wanted — without having to earn it?”

Caitlin’s head lifted. Barely.

Grayson held her eyes there. Same spot. “You said you wanted to be fucked.”

That landed like a drop in still water. No judgment. No embellishment. Just the truth, returned to its source.

Caitlin blinked. Not in shame — in recognition. Like hearing the words back made them heavier. More real. Her breath caught, chest tight.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “That was… kind of a lot.”

“It was honest,” Grayson said, gently. “And not a thing to apologize for.”

Caitlin swallowed. Her hands were twisting in her lap now. “I think I was talking about her. I didn’t know it at the time. Or maybe I did.”

Grayson gave her space. “And now?”

“Now I know.”

Grayson stayed gentle. “What do you think that could mean — when you said that, then?”

Caitlin fidgeted with the cuff of her sleeve.

“I meant…” Her voice faltered. Then returned. “I meant I wanted to be wanted without calculation. Without paying for it in performance. I meant I wanted to be in my body without apology.”

“And were you?”

“Yeah. For the first time.”

“And?”

Caitlin laughed under her breath, voice brittle.

“It undid me.”

“Do you want to tell me what that means?”

“She went down on me,” Caitlin said. “And I didn’t stop her. I didn’t say ‘your turn.’ I didn’t move to do something back. I just… stayed.” Her voice dropped. “It was the first time I let someone love me without giving them something to hold onto in return.”

“And how does that feel?”

“It scared me. Because I didn’t know I could feel good without wondering what I was supposed to do next.”

“Caitlin,” Grayson said softly. “Can I ask you something a little more direct?”

Caitlin nodded. Cautious, but open. “Okay.”

“Can I ask — have you been able to let go with her? Fully? To the point of orgasm?”

Caitlin didn’t flinch. She just exhaled — slow, measured — like the question hadn’t startled her, but touched something she hadn’t fully let herself consider out loud.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “A few times now.”

Grayson paused. “Thank you for trusting me with that.” No judgment. Just presence.

“It was Intense,” she said. “Good, obviously. But also… huge.”

“In what way?”

“Like something cracked open. Like I didn’t know I was allowed to feel that much in front of someone else. Like my body did something without asking permission first.”

“Did it scare you?”

“Scare me?”

“When you’re with her… when you’re really with her... is it hard for you to let go?”

Caitlin nodded. “Yeah. But not in a bad way. In a… ‘what the hell just happened to me’ way.” “I didn’t know something that good could feel that emotional,” she said. “Like I’d unlocked something I wasn’t sure I could hold.”

“And did she stay with you, in it?”

Caitlin nodded. “She held me. She didn’t ask questions. She just… stayed.”

“And how did that feel?”

“Like safety,” Caitlin whispered. “Like… maybe I’m not broken. Just… unfinished.”

“Can you tell me more?” Grayson asked. “About what that moment feels like, inside you?”

Caitlin swallowed. “It’s like my whole body forgets the rules.”

“And what are the rules?”

“Don’t be loud. Don’t lose control. Don’t need too much. Don’t want anything you can’t explain.”

“And what happens when you break them?”

Caitlin’s jaw worked. “I feel like I’m losing something I didn’t realize I’d been clenching for years.”

Grayson let that echo for a beat.

“Did you trust her in that moment?”

“Completely.”

“So what made it overwhelming?”

She took a long pause. Then said: “Because it was the first time I stopped trying to deserve it. I wasn’t focused on making it good for her. I wasn’t thinking about how I looked. Or what noises I made. Or if I was doing too much. I just… felt.”

“And afterward?”

“I waited for the shame.”

Grayson asked, “Did it come?”

“I cried.” Grayson’s expression didn’t shift.

“What came up?”

“Everything,” Caitlin said. “Like my body remembered every time I’d ignored it. Or treated it like a machine. Or only let it feel if I was giving something back.”

“And that release—was it healing?”

Caitlin blinked fast. “It felt like grief.”

“Orgasm, for a lot of people who’ve lived with control for a long time, doesn’t just feel good.” Grayson continued, not as explanation — as truth: “Because it asks your body to do the thing you’ve spent your whole life trying not to do — let go.” “And when you finally do, it’s not just about the pleasure. It’s about everything that’s been locked behind it.” Grayson waited.

“The body remembers. And when it finally gets the chance to speak, it doesn’t just whisper. It wails.”

Caitlin’s voice cracked. “Why does something that good make me feel so exposed?”

Grayson looked at her, soft and unsparing. “Because it’s the first time your body told the truth… and you didn’t interrupt it.”

Caitlin’s voice shook. “Most of my life, my body’s been this tool. This engine. Something to keep tight. Strong. Useful. Something to market. Something to measure. Something to fix.” She wiped under her eye. “And then with her… I just get to be.” 

“I’m glad you shared that.” Caitlin gave a faint nod, like she wasn’t sure what came next. Grayson continued. “I want you to understand something. What you’re describing — the way you’ve been touched, the way you’ve felt safe, the way you’ve taken up space in your own body — none of that exists in isolation.”

Caitlin looked up.

“Your body isn’t separate from your mind. Your shame. Your worth. They’re not disconnected. They feed each other.” Another pause. Caitlin didn’t speak, but she was listening now — fully. “When you deny yourself touch, or rest, or care — when you only perform and never allow yourself to receive care— it’s not just your body that remembers that. It’s your whole self.”

She let that land.

“And the same is true when you let yourself be wanted. When you say yes. When you let someone see you — not just on a screen, not just on a court, but really see you — that changes something, too. It builds something.”

Caitlin blinked like her chest was tight.

Grayson didn’t ease up — not harsh, but deliberate.“You’ve spent most of your life being someone people could celebrate. Someone useful. Efficient. Impressive. But Caitlin — you weren’t born to be a brand.” Caitlin flinched. Not because she disagreed. But because it hit somewhere too close to the center. “I need you to start asking — who are you when no one is watching?” “Who are you, Caitlin,” Grayson asked, “when the only person left in the room is you?”

“I don’t know,” Caitlin said. “That’s what scares me.”

“You’re a person. You’re a woman. You’re a body that deserves to feel — not perform. Not earn. Feel.” 

Caitlin let out a shaky breath. One hand pressed to her ribs, like she was trying to hold herself still.

“You’ve built an entire life on being safe. Desirable, but not too much. Dominant, but likable. A leader, but always in control…. But the real you? The one who felt everything when she said yes? The one who let herself be touched without calculating what it cost — that version of you matters more than the one anyone else thinks they love.”

Caitlin looked down, voice cracking:

“It’s easier not to be her.”

“I believe you,” Grayson said. “But it’s lonelier too.”

Then says, like it costs something:

“I love her.”

Grayson exhales like she’s been holding that breath with her.

“That’s yours.”

And Caitlin nods.

“God. That was so scary.”

“But you did it.”

“Yeah.”

—---------

Later that night, Caitlin sat cross-legged on Kate’s bed, fingers absently tugging at a loose thread on her sleeve. Kate was finishing something on her laptop, half-watching her, already sensing the shift in the air.

“I talked about you today,” Caitlin said, eyes still on her hands.

Kate looked up. “In therapy?”

Kate blinked, surprised. “You talked about me?”

Caitlin nodded. “Not by name. Just… you.”

“What’d you say?”

A beat. “That you make me feel like I can breathe,” Caitlin said, voice quieter than before. “That you’re the safest thing I’ve ever had. And that it scares the shit out of me.”

Kate didn’t speak right away. Just reached out, thumb brushing the edge of Caitlin’s sleeve.

“Thank you.” Then, almost under her breath, like she didn’t mean to say it out loud: “I’m proud of you.”

Caitlin looked up. That fast, startled kind of look, like she wasn’t sure she’d heard it right.

But Kate didn’t take it back. “I am,” she said again. “For saying it. For being brave. For not running from it, even when it’s hard.”

Caitlin blinked hard. Kate leaned forward, forehead nearly touching hers. “You don’t have to be perfect for me to be proud.”

And Caitlin didn’t answer — not out loud.

But her breath stuttered once.

And she didn’t pull away.

—-------------------

Kate didn’t do Valentine’s Day. Not really. Not normally. Too much expectation. Too many people pretending not to want anything and being gutted when they didn’t get it.

But this was different. Caitlin was different.

Caitlin was different because she didn’t know how to ask for gentleness. But when you gave it to her, she crumbled like she’d been waiting for it her whole life.

And Kate really wanted to give her that.

She planned the whole thing in her head a dozen times before she moved a single pillow. Not because she was nervous — okay, maybe a little — but because she wanted it to land just right. Not flashy. Not over-the-top. Just them.

It took her two hours to set up the apartment. She pushed the coffee table aside, laid down the softest blanket they had, and stacked every pillow from both their beds into a makeshift couch. Then came the fairy lights — taped across the ceiling in a zigzag that made her laugh halfway through because it looked a little chaotic, a little too much. But she kept them. Caitlin liked things a little messy.

She borrowed a projector from a grad student who owed her a favor. Queued up the drive-in movie Caitlin had once offhandedly mentioned loving — something with a stupid name and a happy ending. She ordered takeout from three different places because Caitlin could never decide on one thing. She bought Twizzlers. And the stupid sparkling lemonade she always made fun of but always drank…

It wasn’t a lie. Not entirely.

The apartment smelled like Thai, Mexican, and burgers all at once, and candle wax by the time Caitlin knocked. 

Kate opened the door and watched her take it in — the blanket spread on the floor, the twinkle lights taped clumsily to the ceiling, the playlist she’d queued but was too embarrassed to press play on. Caitlin stepped inside, eyes sweeping the room. Her mouth parted just slightly. “Did you do all this?”

Kate scratched the back of her neck. “It’s dumb. I just thought—”

Caitlin kissed her before she could finish.

A quick one, just enough to knock the air out of Kate’s lungs. Then another. And another, slower. Kate felt Caitlin smile against her mouth.

When they pulled apart, Caitlin whispered, “You’re such a softie.”

Kate groaned. “Don’t make it weird.”

But she was grinning. Bright and a little shy. Like a secret had just been let loose. “I love it,” she whispered.

They sat on the blanket. Ate Thai food straight from the containers. Played a game where they muted the movie and tried to guess the plot from body language alone. Caitlin guessed wrong every time. Kate didn’t care.

And Kate couldn’t stop watching her. Couldn’t stop noticing all the small ways Caitlin let herself relax — the untied hoodie, the laughter that came easily, the way her legs stayed pressed against Kate’s like she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

This — all of it — meant more to Kate than she’d let on.

Because she didn’t usually let herself plan things like this. Not because she didn’t care, but because caring out loud was risky. Being the one who showed up first — with the movie night, the pillows, the I picked this for you — that was always the part that hurt when people left.

But Caitlin wasn’t leaving.

Later, when the movie had ended and Caitlin’s head rested on her shoulder — heavy, warm, real — Kate turned slightly. She let herself watch her. The way her lashes brushed her cheeks, the way her fingers curled in the edge of the blanket like she needed an anchor.

“Can I tell you something?” she asked, voice low.

Caitlin didn’t move. “Yeah.”

“I was really fucking excited when you said you talked about me,” Kate said, trying not to rush. “I didn’t say anything yesterday, but… I’ve been waiting to be known like that. By you.”

Caitlin lifted her head. “You are.”

Kate swallowed, throat thick. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For naming me. For not hiding me. I know what that costs.”

Caitlin’s eyes didn’t move. “I wanted to.”

Kate nodded once, then again — like maybe, if she stopped, the courage would crack.

A beat passed. And then she said it. Quietly. Carefully. Like it had taken years to form:

“I want to share something with you tonight.” She felt the words pulse through her — not bold, not rehearsed. True. “Not because I owe you. Not because you asked. Because I trust you. And because I want to stop holding myself back.”

Caitlin froze — not from fear, not from uncertainty. From reverence. From knowing exactly what this was.

Kate kept going — not fast, but forward. “I’ve given a lot of myself to people who never really saw me. And I’ve spent a long time making sure no one ever got too close. I thought if I kept control, I’d be safe.” She paused. “But I want you to see me. I want to let go. I want to feel something without flinching.”

And Caitlin—bless her, brave and bright and new to this—had whispered, “Then let me.”

They moved together in the soft spill of fairy lights and blanket folds, the remains of Thai food and movie laughter still lingering in the air. It was quiet now. The kind of quiet you could feel — sacred, electrified, full of breath that didn’t know where to go.

Now Kate lay back on the soft sprawl of pillows and blankets, breath shallow, muscles coiled tight beneath Caitlin’s hands. Her shirt was gone. So was her armor.

Caitlin kissed her gently at first. Hands braced on either side of Kate’s face, like she wanted her steady. Like she wanted to be sure.

Kate leaned into it, into her, grounding herself in the weight of Caitlin’s palm against her cheek. Then Caitlin whispered, voice low and shaking but sure: “I want to make you feel good tonight.”

Kate blinked. Her breath caught.

“I want to take care of you,” Caitlin said, softer this time. “Can I?”

And Kate almost cried.

Because no one had ever asked her like that before — not with gentleness, not with patience, not without the expectation that she'd flip the switch and take over again. She’d spent so long giving, guiding, holding everything steady. She didn’t know how to be held without flinching.

“Yes,” she whispered. Then again, louder. “Yes. Please.”

Caitlin kissed her like she meant it. Not like before — not just sweet or teasing or soft around the edges — but like something in her had finally tipped. Like she’d made a decision and didn’t want to waste a single second walking it back.  

Caitlin climbed between her legs with deliberate slowness, her hands reverent, her eyes full of fire and care. She kissed Kate’s stomach first—then lower. Then lower. Her hands skated across Kate’s stomach — thumbs grazing skin like they were reading a story there. She pressed a kiss just below her ribs. Then another. Then lower.

Kate gasped, her hips twitching once. Reflexive. A warning bell in her ribs.

Caitlin paused. “Okay?” she asked, lips barely brushing her skin.

Kate nodded. “Just… don’t rush. I need…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I know,” Caitlin said. And Kate believed her.

When Caitlin pulled her boxers down, it wasn’t just undressing. It was peeling back years of performance. Of giving. Of pretending it didn’t matter that she never let anyone stay.

“Oh, fuck,” she breathed. “You’re beautiful,” Caitlin said. It wasn’t performative. It wasn’t coaxing. It was a fact.

Kate’s chest rose. Fell. Rose again. She laughed — short, sharp. “Still want to?”

Caitlin looked up, eyes blazing. “I want to die down here.”

Kate’s laugh broke into a gasp when Caitlin kissed the inside of her thigh, tongue dragging slow and wet up the seam.

“Holy shit—”

“Teach me,” Caitlin whispered. “Tell me what feels good,” she said, voice quiet but clear. “What you like. What you need.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “Not of you. Just… of letting go.” Kate felt it in the way her hands framed her face. The way her breath trembled between them. The way her thigh pressed between Kate’s legs was like a question already answered.

Caitlin kissed the inside of her thigh, slow and deliberate, and said, “Tell me what you need.” Kate exhaled hard. “Talk me through it,” Caitlin added softly. “I want to do this right.”

And she did.

Kate lay on her back, breath shallow, eyes wide open. Caitlin her like she wasn’t rushing toward anything — like the kiss was the point. The wanting was the point. Her lips brushed over Kate’s collarbone, then lower, then lower still, until Kate’s breath stuttered out of her in a soft gasp.

Every time she tensed, Caitlin paused.

Every time she started to rise up and offer something back, Caitlin said, gently, “Let me.”

And Kate listened.

Caitlin touched her like she wasn’t asking for anything in return. She kissed every inch of her like she was allowed to. Like Kate’s pleasure wasn’t a transaction — it was a right.

“I want to go down on you,” Caitlin said. Clear. Sure. “Not because I think I should. Not because I want anything back. Because I need to know what it’s like to make you come.”

Kate didn’t usually let herself be touched like that. Not with intention. Not like it meant something. But this wasn’t a hookup in someone else’s bed. This wasn’t a sweaty dorm room with too much vodka and a girl who didn’t ask questions. This was Caitlin. Focused. Steady. Fierce with want, trembling with purpose. And she was looking at Kate like she wanted to learn her — not own her, not use her — learn her.

Kate froze — not from doubt, but from how much she felt in that moment. The air shifted.

“You’ve never—” she started.

Caitlin shook her head. “No. Not yet.”

Kate’s heart flipped. “You sure?”

Caitlin’s hands slid over her hips, slow and certain. “Can you talk me through this?” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Tell me where. Tell me how.” Her voice was hoarse. “I want to do this right.”

Kate heard it — not just the nerves, but the need. Not just to do it right, but to do it with her. Together. A gift, not a task. A step forward, not a test. Kate reached down, brushed a strand of hair out of Caitlin’s face. “There’s no wrong way,” she said, breath trembling. “Just listen to me. And stay with me.”

Caitlin nodded. “Always.”

Kate’s chest ached. She reached down, threaded trembling fingers through Caitlin’s hair, and whispered, “Start soft. Use your tongue. Let me feel it build.”

The first lick was tentative. Gentle. A feather dragged across skin that had only ever tensed under touch.

Kate gasped. Her hips jolted. Not from pleasure. From how much it almost was.

The first touch of her tongue was light. Careful. Exploratory. “You’re doing perfect,” Kate whispered, voice rough. “Don’t be afraid to use your tongue… My clit. Flatten it. Lick up. Then down. Then—”

Caitlin obeyed. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t fumble. She just stayed there, breathing against her, tongue pressing again, slightly firmer now.

Kate screamed. “Jesus fucking Christ—”

Caitlin licked again, bolder now, tongue firm. She adjusted when Kate’s hips twitched. She listened. She watched. And Kate was already shaking. She kept going. Slow. Patient. Listening with her mouth, her hands, her whole body.

Kate bit down on her knuckle. Her hips twitched again, but she didn’t pull away.

Caitlin looked up. “Still okay?”

“Yeah,” Kate whispered. “Don’t stop. Just… don’t stop.”

She couldn’t come. Not yet. Her body didn’t let her. But she felt herself approaching. Hovering. Tingling at the edge of something terrifyingly soft.

Caitlin flattened her tongue and licked up again—slow, strong, steady.

Kate cursed. Loud. Her thighs clamped around Caitlin’s shoulders for a second before she forced them to relax.

“You’re shaking,” Caitlin said, voice low against her.

“I always do,” Kate breathed. “It doesn’t mean stop.”

Caitlin kissed the inside of her thigh again, grounding her. “I’ve got you.”

Kate groaned. “Jesus, Caitlin—keep doing that—”

She did.

Every flick of her tongue was careful but not timid. She wasn’t teasing—she was learning. Mapping Kate’s reactions like they were gospel. The way her hips tilted. The way she gasped when Caitlin circled her clit just right. The way her fingers trembled against the blanket like she wanted to claw her way through the floor.

Caitlin found a rhythm. Steady, smooth, almost reverent. She moaned against her, and the vibration made Kate curse loud and grab the pillow behind her head like she might fall through the mattress.

Kate reached for her hand. “You’re doing so good, babe. Keep going. Don’t overthink it — just listen to what makes me move.”

And Caitlin watched her — every sigh, every gasp, every twitch of her hips. She followed instinct, followed need, followed Kate’s body like it was a guide and a gift.

“God—Caitlin—yes—fuck, I’m gonna—”  She was too sensitive. Too aware. Every nerve ending wired for high alert, but for once, no danger came. Only Caitlin. Only care.

Caitlin slid a hand under her thigh and lifted her leg over her shoulder, deeper now, tongue insistent. Open. Endless. Like she wanted to drown in her.

Kate moaned again, more desperate now, not because she was close, but because she wanted to be.

She tried to stay quiet. Tried not to come too fast. Tried to hold it back because it was Caitlin’s first time. Her hips were trembling now.

She failed completely.

“Fuck— Caitlin—don’t you dare stop— I’m right—I’m—”

And Caitlin didn’t.

She kept her mouth open, let her tongue move in long, wet strokes, then shorter flicks that made Kate cry out. She moaned into her — not from performance, but from feeling.

Not from proximity to release — not yet — but from everything coiled inside her. Years of control. Years of giving. Years of never letting go. Her thighs shook against Caitlin’s shoulders as her breath hitched for the tenth time, body climbing toward a ledge she wasn’t sure she’d ever reached before.

She stayed low. Firm. Gentle. Then firm again.

Tongue flat. Then slow circles. Then up, up, right there—

Kate gasped. “Fuck—Caitlin—”

She arched, one hand flying to the headboard, the other tangling in Caitlin’s hair. “Don’t stop—don’t stop—I’m so fucking close—”

Caitlin moaned into her, lips parting wider, tongue flattening again, and that vibration—that sound—made Kate’s hips snap forward with a ragged cry.

Something cracked open.

“I—Jesus, fuck—” Her body lurched. One thigh spasmed. Her head dropped back.

Caitlin didn’t ease up. She adjusted instead. Matched her pace to Kate’s rhythm. Let her grind forward, ride the edge, teeter there.

And Kate started to fall.

Not a neat fall. A collapse.

“Oh my god—”

It wasn’t even an orgasm yet — it was the terrifying fact of knowing that it was going to happen. That she couldn’t stop it this time. That she didn’t want to.

That Caitlin was going to break her.

She didn’t even realize she was saying it aloud until her voice cracked on, “I can’t—I can’t—oh my god—I’m coming—”

Her whole body snapped tight.

She came hard — without warning, without apology, without holding anything back. Her thighs locked. Her stomach convulsed. Her hand gripped the back of Caitlin’s head like she might float off the fucking earth if she didn’t hold on.

She tipped over the edge like she’d been shoved. Her whole body curled — taut, trembling, undone. She came hard, hips rocking up, mouth open around a strangled sound. She shattered — loud, unguarded, soaked in heat and reverence. Her whole body curled, hips lifting, breath catching on the rise and fall of something that had always been just out of reach.

And Caitlin stayed with her.

She moaned into her like she was starved for it. Held her hips down. Let her grind forward. Let her take. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t stop.

Kate’s voice broke. Her body shuddered. Her orgasm ripped through her in waves, each one sharper than the last, building until she thought she might scream—or disintegrate.

And she did scream. Not loud. But raw.

“*Fuck—Caitlin—yes—yes—*don’t—*don’t stop—*please—”

Caitlin devoured her.

Kate broke open.

She wailed into the air and came again, a second time, smaller but sharper, like the first had yanked the lock loose and the second flooded everything after.

She curled. She gasped. Her voice cracked. Her thighs wouldn’t stop shaking.

She wasn’t sure where her hands were.

She wasn’t sure who she was.

And Caitlin didn’t leave.

Not for a second.

She kissed the inside of her thigh, the space just above her pubic bone, then crawled up her body slowly, hands warm, lips gentler now.

Kate’s eyes were glassy. Her mouth stayed open like she hadn’t remembered how to close it.

“You—” she breathed. “You—*fuck—*you’re mine.”

Caitlin smiled, mouth swollen, eyes wide.

Kate laughed — broken and breathless. “You’re not allowed to be that good on your first try.”

Caitlin blinked. “Was it good?”

Kate turned, caught her mouth in a kiss that felt like a promise. “It was perfect. You wrecked me.”

And then she laughed. Not a soft laugh. A destroyed, stunned, gut-deep laugh that broke her wide open again.

“I didn’t think I could do that,” she whispered. “Not like that. Not ever.”

Caitlin kissed her again. “You did.”

Kate shook her head. “You did. You—you fucking took me apart.”

And Caitlin, smug but reverent, said softly, “I wanted to.”

Kate curled her body around her like a blanket, breath still ragged, thighs still twitching.

And for the first time in her life, she didn’t feel ashamed for needing. For being loud. For coming so hard she couldn’t see straight.

She just felt held.

And loved.

And real.

Kate didn’t have words for what had just happened. Not yet.

But she knew what it wasn’t. It wasn’t her being strong. It wasn’t her being in charge. It wasn’t her performing what someone else needed. It was hers. All of it. For once, it wasn’t about what she gave. 

It was about what she let herself receive.

[mines-camren]

Caitlin Clark x Kate Martin Ch 11

Disclaimer: This is my first time writing a fic! Any feedback is welcome. Friends -> lovers, Caitlin's gay-awakening. I obviously don't own any of the rights to these characters etc.Keep reading

This one is all smut :P :) enjoy

The heat kicked on with a clunk.

Outside, snow gathered along the windowsill, muffling the world in white. Caitlin sat curled into the corner of the couch, hoodie sleeves tugged over her hands. The TV flickered in the background, the volume low, playing something neither of them were watching. She’d been here for hours. Days, really. Thanksgiving break had blurred, and somewhere in the quiet, Kate’s apartment had become a second home.

They watched an old game replay. Caitlin wore one of Kate’s hoodies—too big, sleeves past her fingertips, smelling like warmth and something unnameable. Her bare feet stretched across Kate’s lap, cold toes pressed against skin that had already memorized her.

Kate returned from the kitchen, two mugs in hand. She passed one over, sat down. Close but not touching. The air between them was already electric—full of all the things they hadn’t said.

They drank in silence. Kate’s fingers moved thoughtlessly over Caitlin’s shin, tracing circles. Not possessive. Just present. Caitlin’s pulse buzzed under her skin.

Kate leaned back. “You’re quiet.”

Caitlin shrugged. “Thinking.”

“About?”

“Stuff.”

Kate gave her a look—gentle, expectant, infinitely patient.

Caitlin set her mug down. Her hands trembled slightly at the cuffs of her sleeves. “You know how you said that night… that it’s easier when you’re the one giving? When you’re the one in control?”

Kate stilled. “Yeah.”

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot.” Caitlin’s eyes dropped to her lap. “About what it means to ask for something. To want something. And to say it out loud.”

Kate didn’t speak. Just waited.

Caitlin’s voice softened. “I think I’m trying to learn how to want out loud.”

Kate’s fingers paused on her leg.

Caitlin took a breath. “I think about you. About the things I want. What you might want. And every time I try to say it, it feels like holding something delicate. Like I’ll break it if I touch it wrong.”

Kate’s hand moved back to her knee, quiet, steady. “Tell me anyway, superstar.”

“I want to make you feel good,” Caitlin said. “But not like people talk about it. Not like a goal to hit. I mean—really feel. I want to know what pulls you apart. What you hide from everyone else. I want to be there, in it. With you.”

Kate’s breath hitched.

Caitlin laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never asked for things like this. Not in detail. Not with a girl. And not like this—with care. With you.”

Kate’s voice came rough. “You’re doing it now.”

“I think about touching you,” Caitlin whispered. “Not to see what you’d do. Just to feel it. To know you that way. To see your face when you let go and know I’m the one who helped you get there.”

Kate blinked, something fragile in her eyes.

Caitlin’s cheeks went red. “I think about you. In class. In practice. At night. Not flashes. You. The way you laugh. The way your hands move when you talk. The way you look at me like I’m already unraveling.”

Kate closed her eyes.

Caitlin paused. Then: “When you’re alone… do you think about me?”

Kate’s breath stopped. Then started again.

“Yes.” Her voice was hushed but certain. “I do, of course I do Cait... After games. After walking you home. I think about your face. The way your voice sounds when you say my name. I think about how badly I want you.”

Caitlin exhaled shakily. “Me too. Lately more. I used to be ashamed of it. Like I didn’t deserve to want that much. Like desire was too loud inside me.”

Kate opened her eyes. “You don’t have to be quiet anymore.”

“I don’t want to be,” Caitlin said. “Especially not with you.”

They sat with it. The confession. The weight of shared want.

“I want to touch you, but only if I know you’re not bracing the whole time,” Caitlin said. “And I know you’re not ready for that. Not yet. But I was thinking… Maybe we could try something else. Something gentler.”

Kate tilted her head. “Like what?”

Caitlin reached for her hand, warm and slow. “We could lie next to each other. Touch ourselves. With clothes on, if that’s easier. No pressure. No goal. Just… together. Not alone.”

Kate’s jaw worked, like she was holding something back. Her fingers tightened.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Caitlin added. “I just want to be beside you. To share it.”

Kate’s breath came shallow. “You want to watch me?”

“I want to know what makes you tremble,” Caitlin said. “I want you to feel wanted. Not because you’re performing. Just because you’re you.”

“I want to try,” Kate said. “But you have to promise—”

“I’m not leaving,” Caitlin whispered. “Even if it’s messy. Especially then.”

Kate nodded. Eyes full. Hands shaking. “Okay.” “I want it. I just… I don’t know if I can get there.”

“That’s okay,” Caitlin said. “We don’t have to get anywhere.”

Kate swallowed again. “What if I panic?”

“Then we stop,” Caitlin said. “Immediately. And I hold you. And you’re not broken.”

Kate’s lips parted. Her voice broke. “I want to try.”

Caitlin squeezed her hand. “Then let’s.” They stared at each other. Like two live wires sparking in the dark. Then Caitlin, trembling, said, “Come to bed with me.”

Kate swallowed. “And after that?”

“Whatever we need,” Caitlin said. “Whatever feels right.”

Then, finally, Kate whispered, “Okay.”

Silence.

Kate nodded. “Clothes on?”

“For now.”

“Lights?”

“Dim,” Caitlin offered. “Unless you want them on.”

Kate smiled. Soft. Scared. Brave. “Leave them on.”

They stood together. Hand in hand. Moving not like they were chasing something, but like they were approaching something sacred.

—-------------------------------------

Caitlin sat on the edge of the bed, back straight, hands knotted in her lap. She looked like she was holding a secret in her throat. Kate stood a few feet away—still, alert—like she wasn’t sure whether to sit or run.

“I’m not trying to push you,” Caitlin said gently. “We don’t have to do anything tonight.”

Kate didn’t sit. But she nodded. “I know.”

Eventually, they both climbed onto the bed. Side by side, not touching. Legs still clothed, bodies blanketed in distance, but breathing the same air. Caitlin lay on her side, one hand under her head, the other anchored to her chest like it was keeping her heart inside. Kate lay across from her, eyes wide, unreadable in the soft light.

“Okay?” Caitlin asked.

Kate didn’t answer at first. Just exhaled. Shaky. Bare.

“I need you to understand something,” she said, voice low. “I’m not scared of sex. I’m not scared of you. But I’ve always been the one who knows what to do. I know how to make someone fall apart. I know how to use my hands. I know how to say the things people want to hear.” Her voice cracked, just slightly. “That’s where I feel safe.”

Caitlin didn’t look away. “What if we built something different? Together.”

Kate blinked. Her mouth opened. Closed. And then: “Maybe we start with words.”

“I thought so too,” Caitlin whispered. “I thought maybe… maybe we could talk. About what we like. What we want. What we’ve never said out loud before.”

Kate let out a breath that sounded too much like relief. “Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we can talk.”

They were close, but not quite touching. Close enough to feel each other’s heat.

Caitlin went first, because she knew Kate needed that.She kept her eyes low. Her voice small. “I like… fingers. When I’m alone. I like it slow. I like the stretch. I like pressure. Not soft, not too gentle. I want to feel full.”

Kate’s throat bobbed. “Me too.”

Caitlin glanced at her, unsure. “Sometimes I imagine someone, well you, talking to me. Sometimes dirty. Sometimes, just… guiding me. Seeing me.”

Kate’s lips parted. “Yeah. That kind of attention..." Kate paused. Then: “I’ve never said this out loud.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to.” Her voice had gone soft, almost reverent. “I want to tell you.”

Caitlin nodded once.

“When I touch myself…” Kate hesitated, her breath catching. “I don’t let myself finish. Not at first. Sometimes not at all. I’ll get close, right to the edge—and then I stop. Over and over. Until it hurts to hold it. Until I’m shaking.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened.

“It’s not punishment,” Kate added, quickly. “It’s control. It’s need. It’s building the ache until I can’t think. I want to feel it build and build and not let go. Not until someone sees me like that. Wants me like that.”

Caitlin’s voice was a whisper. “Needy. Desperate.”

Kate nodded. “Open. Raw. Bare.”

“You want someone to hold you there.”

Kate looked at her. Really looked. “Yes.”

Caitlin didn’t blink. “I want to do that for you.”

Kate flinched, like the honesty struck a place she hadn’t known was exposed. “You’d want to?”

“I think about it all the time,” Caitlin said. “How beautiful you’d be. How good it would feel to watch you get closer. To pull you back right before. To hold you there. Not to tease you for fun, but to watch you climb and want and fall into something real.”

Kate’s hand flexed against the comforter. Her jaw clenched.

“I think I’d like it,” Caitlin added. “To give that to you. Not just the orgasm. The build. The ache. The letting go.”

“I don’t let people see me like that,” Kate whispered.

“I know,” Caitlin said. “That’s why it matters.”

They were so close now their knees touched. Kate’s fingers reached out—just barely brushing Caitlin’s.

“I want it,” Kate said, voice low. “But only if you promise you’ll stop the second I ask.”

Caitlin didn’t flinch. She brought their joined hands to her chest, cradling them there. “I promise,” she said, steady as stone. “The moment you need me to stop, I will. No questions. No pressure. Just us, and only what feels right.”

Kate blinked hard, her throat working around something thick and unsaid. Her voice barely made it out.

“When I finally come… it’s like I lose my body.”

Caitlin didn’t speak. She just listened. Fully. Openly. The way Kate had never been listened to before.

Kate looked down at her hands, jaw clenched. “It’s not neat or sexy or quiet. It’s—” She swallowed. “Too much. Like my whole system shuts down and rewires itself. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I pass out, honestly. Sometimes I go dead quiet, like I’ve left the room for a minute and I’m just trying to find my way back.”

Her voice shook, but she kept going. “It’s not pretty. It’s not controlled. And that’s what scares me most. Because every other time I’ve felt that coming on, I’ve stopped it. I’ve shut it down. I’ve never let anyone see it. Not really. Not the whole way.”

“I want to see that,” Caitlin said. “I want to hold you through it.” Caitlin leaned in, voice barely there. “I want you to let go. Not because I need you to. But because you do.” 

"Okay Cait..."

"How do we start, Martin?"

“I want to watch you,” Kate said, voice rough.

She cupped her own thigh, gently. “Okay..." Caitlin rolled into bed beside her, took off her tank and sports bra, leaving her in her sweatpants, legs curled. She slipped a hand beneath her waistband, slow and deliberate, her breath already catching from the weight of being seen. No rush. No pressure. Her breath hitched. “You can stop me at any time.”

Kate watched her like she was the sun. 

Caitlin gasped softly, pulling her sweatpants and panties off, and showing Kate everything... Showing Kate how wet she was. She pushed a finger into her, circled it around, and then pushed up, eyes fluttering closed.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Kate said, voice low, almost hoarse.

“I’m thinking about you,” Caitlin whispered. Her eyes didn’t leave Kate’s. “I’m thinking about the first time I felt you inside of me...”

Kate started slow. One hand at her chest, the other between her thighs. Her eyes locked on Caitlin the whole time. She didn’t close them. She didn’t flinch. She just felt—each wave rolling higher, each sound deeper, rougher, less contained.

They breathed in sync. They moved together. Two separate rhythms that slowly came in unison. Caitlin whispered things—not dirty, just truths. “You’re beautiful like this.” “I’ve never wanted anything more.” “You’re allowed to want this.”

Kate moaned softly. Her hand faltered once. Caitlin reached over. Just a touch on her side. Nothing more. It wasn’t about choreography. It wasn’t about the climax. It was about timing. About being bare beside someone, even while still clothed.

Kate’s hand stilled. Caitlin whispered, “You’re okay.”

Kate nodded. “I know. I’m just… feeling everything.”

“Good,” Caitlin said. “I want you to.” Caitlin’s free hand drifted across the bedspread. Touched Kate’s thigh.

Kate trembled.

“I’m here,” Caitlin whispered.

Their breath moved in tandem, hips shifting under the blanket. Caitlin’s hand works slowly between her legs, her cheeks flushed, eyes half-lidded as she watches.

Kate struggles to keep still; she's is trembling—quietly, but it’s there. That tension she carries like armor. She’s close. Caitlin can feel it in the rhythm of her breathing. The way her voice catches on every exhale.

“You’re doing so good,” she whispered.

Kate’s thighs were already shaking. She was flushed all the way to her chest, breath hitching in short, sharp gasps. Her hand worked in slow, punishing circles between her legs—close, so close—and then she’d stop. Back off. Breathe like she was holding something fragile inside her ribs. 

Her breath caught on a moan.

Her thighs trembled.

Kate was unraveling.

And Caitlin could feel it.

Caitlin had stopped touching herself ten minutes ago. She couldn’t take her eyes off Kate. She’d never seen her like this—eyes glassy, lips parted, completely exposed. Her sweatpants were down to her ankles. She looked like a painting someone would be afraid to touch.

Minutes pass. The air grows heavier. And then—Kate lets out a sound, broken and desperate, soft and strangled—and Caitlin felt something shift. And then—just as her breath caught—Kate stopped and let out a low whimper. 

Her fingers froze. “Fuck.”

Caitlin stilled too, chest heaving.

Caitlin reached out without thinking, brushing the hair back from her temple. “What is it? Too much?” she whispered.

Kate didn’t answer right away. Just swallowed. Blinked like she was trying not to cry. Kate squeezed her eyes shut. “I always stop here.”

Caitlin nodded. “I know. You don’t have to go further.”

But Kate shook her head. “I want to.”

“No,” Kate rasped. “I need to, Caitlin. I need to come. I’m so fucking…”

Her voice broke off like it couldn’t bear the weight of the words. She was flushed everywhere—chest, throat, cheeks, even the tips of her ears. Sweat dampened the curve of her jaw. Her hands, still trembling, had been edging herself for what felt like forever—twice now she’d come close, twice she’d pulled herself back.

Kate’s breath hitched. Her eyes fluttered shut. “I need… to be touched. I need you to make me let go. I don’t want to stop again. I can’t. I don’t want to hold it anymore.”

Caitlin leaned in, lips brushing her shoulder. “You’re not alone this time,” she murmured. “You don’t have to climb the whole way by yourself.”

Kate’s voice broke. “Will you do it?”

Caitlin didn’t move. “Do what?”

Kate shifted beside her, cheeks flushed, chest rising fast. “Edge me.”

Caitlin froze, her breath catching. The room held still.

“Tell me how.”

Kate’s chest heaved. “I want… I want you to make it last.”

Caitlin blinked. “What do you mean?”

Kate opened her eyes—barely. Her pupils were blown wide. Her lips parted. Her voice dropped. “Don’t let me finish,” she said. “Not right away. Not until I ask.”

Caitlin swallowed, her own fingers pausing. “Okay.”

“I just—I can’t do it like this. Not… by myself. Not now. I… need to climb. I need to hold it. Until it feels real.”

Caitlin’s hand found hers. “What do you need?”

Kate hesitated. Then, almost shy: “My drawer.”

Caitlin froze. Kate had never let her open that drawer.

Caitlin blinked. “What?”

Kate swallowed. Her voice shook. “Top drawer. Nightstand. The black one. Can you… get it?” She didn’t have to say what. The heat in her cheeks did that already.

Caitlin crossed the room, knees wobbling. Her hands shook when she opened the drawer. The toy wasn’t big. Just simple, sleek, black. But it buzzed in her hand like it had teeth. Like it knew what it could do.

She climbed back into bed slowly, like the mattress might bite.

And Caitlin realized—she’d never held anyone there before. She didn’t even know how to use a vibrator, not really. But the way Kate said it—the way she looked when she said it—like Caitlin was the only person she’d ever ask? That made her brave.

Kate was already stretched out —flushed, tense, pupils blown wide. Her bra was off. Her sweatpants weren’t anywhere to be found. She looked wrecked and beautiful and wild. 

Caitlin stared. “I’ve never done this before.”

Kate nodded. “Neither have I. Not like this.”

That helped. Somehow.

Caitlin crawled between her legs. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Kate said, breathless. Kate swallowed hard. Her skin felt electric. This was okay. This was hers. No one was inside her. No one was pressing into the dark places she still didn’t know how to name. “I’ll tell you if I need you to stop,” Kate said, eyes on the ceiling. “Just don’t stop unless I ask, and stop if I ask.”

She could give Caitlin this. A glimpse. 

Caitlin stood at the foot of the bed. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Kate nodded, “yes.” 

Caitlin crawls up beside her. Kate laid back. Caitlin leaned close to her ear. “You’re beautiful like this.”

Kate squeezed her eyes shut. Her body screamed yes. Her mind screamed don’t lose it. She wasn’t used to being seen like this—open, exposed, trembling on the edge of something she couldn’t control.

Caitlin clicked it on. It buzzed, low and steady. “Where do you want me?”

Kate looked at her. Just looked. Then, with trembling fingers, she reached for Caitlin’s hand and guided it down—slowly, deliberately. Pressed her palm over her own stomach. Lower.

“Just hold it there,” she whispered. “Don’t move unless I say.”

Caitlin turned it on. The low hum made her breath catch.

“Here?” she asked, hovering.

Kate’s voice cracked. “Yeah. There.”

Caitlin pressed the tip gently to Kate’s clit.

Kate cried out.

Caitlin almost pulled away, panic flashing—Too much, I did it wrong—but Kate’s hips pushed into it, not away. Her hands clawed the sheets.

“Oh my god,” Kate whispered. “Don’t move unless I tell you.”

Caitlin crawled between her legs. “Okay,” she said again, softer now. “I’ve got you.”

Caitlin froze in place. Her whole body lit up. She wasn’t touching Kate, not really. Just holding the toy. But it felt like touching lightning.

Kate was panting. Trembling.

Caitlin’s heart raced. This is happening. I’m doing this. She’s letting me do this.

Kate whimpered. Her thighs quaked. “More.” Caitlin clicked it up a notch. The sound, the vibration—it all felt louder now. 

Kate’s thighs trembled almost instantly. She was already so wet. Already close. Her body begged. But she held herself still, muscles locked.

“Oh, fuck,” she whispered. “That’s—too good.”

Caitlin didn’t move. “Tell me when, Martin.”

Kate whimpered. “Not yet.”

Caitlin’s chest tightened. Not from nerves now—but from awe. From the unbearable heat building between her legs. From the overwhelming need to give Kate everything.

“Fuck,” Kate whispered. “Don’t stop.”

Kate moaned. Loud this time. She arched into it, thighs trembling. Her hands scrabbled for Caitlin’s arm, nails digging into skin. Her thighs were trembling. Her breath came in shallow bursts. She wasn’t touching herself anymore—hadn’t been since she handed Caitlin the toy. Since she’d said the words she swore she’d never say out loud.

Kate’s voice dropped. “Caitlin. Baby…"

Her legs shook. Her stomach clenched. Her jaw went tight like she was holding back a scream.

“You’re perfect,” Caitlin whispered. “You’re so—fuck—Kate, you’re stunning.” Kate shook her head like she couldn’t bear to hear it.

Caitlin leaned in. “Let me see you.”

Kate’s eyes fluttered open. Glassy. Pleading.

“More,” Kate rasped. “Just a little.”

Caitlin clicked up the speed. Just one notch.

Kate sobbed. 

She reached down once—reflex—but stopped herself. “God. I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” Caitlin whispered. “I’m right here.”

Kate’s eyes fluttered shut. Her lips parted. Her body was begging.

“I can’t,” she gasped. “It’s too much—I’m too close—turn it off—”

Caitlin obeys. Immediately. She pulls the vibrator back, heart pounding, unsure. She watches Kate’s chest rise, fall, stutter. Watches her bite her lip. Watches her eyes flutter closed.

Kate’s hand grips the sheet. Caitlin watches every movement, every breath. She listens for the rhythm.

Kate was flushed, wrecked, hair damp with sweat. Her thighs didn’t stop shaking.

Caitlin froze. “Was that okay?”

Kate nodded, shaking. “Again.”

So Caitlin did it again. She switched the toy back on. Pressed it back.

Kate sobbed at the contact. “It’s too much.”

“But you want it?”

“I want it,” Kate gasped. “I want you to keep me here. I want you to ruin me.”

Caitlin did.

The second time—when Kate arches again, when her body goes taut and her legs tremble—Caitlin hears it first.

“Now, take it away, Cait,” Kate whispers, and Caitlin obeys again. Just long enough to send her shuddering. Just short enough to keep her right on the edge.

Caitlin didn’t know she could feel this powerful. Not from control. But from care. From being the person Kate chose to fall apart in front of.

Each time, Kate got closer. Her body arched higher. Her legs trembled harder. Her moans turned desperate, pleading, sharp with need. Caitlin’s hand was steady. Her voice low. “Not yet. I’ve got you.”

The third time, Caitlin lowered the vibrator right outside of Kate’s entrance. Light. Teasing. Barely a breath of pressure.

Kate gasped. Her hips jerked. But Caitlin pulled away—just in time.

“Fuck,” Kate exhaled, breathless.

“You like this,” Caitlin whispered. “Being held like this. Needing.”

Kate nodded, helpless.

Caitlin leaned down, lips brushing the sweat on her jaw. “You’re so close.”

Kate moaned. “Yes. Please.”

“Not yet.”

Now Kate was climbing. Her hips lifted off the mattress involuntarily, chasing something she wouldn’t let herself have.

Caitlin pressed the vibrator back to her clit. Soft. Gentle. Just enough to make her hips twitch. Kate let out a strangled moan and clenched the sheets.

“You’re holding back,” she said softly, dragging the vibrator just to the side, denying her again. Kate was panting. Eyes squeezed shut. Her hands fisted the comforter like she was holding herself together. Caitlin pulled the vibrator away.

“No,” Kate gasped. “Don’t stop—”

“Not yet,” Caitlin said. “You said to make you wait.”

Kate whined. Actually whined. Caitlin had never heard a sound like that from her.

She bent down. Pressed her lips to Kate’s stomach. Whispered, “Tell me what it feels like.”

Kate was shaking. “Like I’m going to die.”

“Good,” Caitlin said, and turned the vibrator back on.

She held it steady.

10 seconds later, she eased the toy back. Kate cried out again, high and sharp, but Caitlin didn’t flinch. She listened. She felt the rhythm. The way Kate’s breath stuttered and caught. The way her thighs started to shake before her voice did.

By the fourth time, Kate was crying. Quiet, breathless sobs. Her thighs shook violently. Her toes arched and squeezed together.

Kate arched off the bed. “Please,” she begged. “Caitlin—please— I need to come,” Kate said. “Please—don’t move—don’t stop—don’t—”

Something dark and hot coiled low in Caitlin’s stomach.

Three times she’d obeyed when Kate whispered “Stop.” And each time, Caitlin’s hand had hovered, ready, unsure.

But now—now Caitlin watched her with something sharper in her chest. Not just nerves. Not just awe.

Need.

Because Kate was panting. Because Kate’s eyes were glassy, lips parted, hips twitching helplessly with every breath. Because Caitlin did that.

She felt it like fuel. Like heat blooming from the inside out.

And that’s when Caitlin really understood.

She whispered, “You don’t want to ask anymore.”

Kate looked at her through half-lidded eyes, ruined and raw. “No.”

“You want me to know.”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, baby.”

“Do you want to come now?” Caitlin whispered.

Kate gasped. “God—yes.”

Caitlin found the rhythm, the breath, the pattern. Every time Kate got close, she pulled back—just enough to leave her shaking, panting, needing.

She held the vibrator poised—just hovering.

“Say it again,” she said, voice lower now. Steadier.

Kate blinked, caught off guard. “Caitlin—”

“Say it,” Caitlin repeated, eyes dark and focused now. “Tell me what you want.”

Kate whimpered. “I want to come.”

“And who’s going to give it to you?”

Kate’s breath caught. Her hands fisted the sheets. “You. You are.”

“Now?” Caitlin asked.

“I need it,” she gasped. “Baby, please—I need you—please—”

Caitlin pressed the vibrator down—harder this time. No hesitation.

Kate’s moan cracked out of her like it had been caged. Her legs shook. Her hands clenched the sheets, Caitlin’s wrist, her own stomach.

Caitlin’s voice was steady. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

“Right there,” she choked. “Please. Right there.”

Caitlin didn’t move. Didn’t tease. Didn’t take it away.

Kate screamed.

Not loud. Not theatrical. But guttural. Ripped from somewhere deep.

And Caitlin didn’t let up.

She leaned in, mouth by Kate’s ear, voice low and steady. “You’ve been so good for me. Letting me see you. Letting me touch you. I want you to feel everything.”

Kate was sobbing now. Trembling. 

Caitlin kissed her hip. “Okay. Let go.”

Kate arched, once. Twice. Her breath stuttered. Her thighs clenched around Caitlin’s hand like she couldn’t bear the pleasure but didn’t want to lose it either. 

Her throat let out a raw, feral sound that didn’t even sound like her.

Kate came undone like it hurt. Like she’d been holding herself back from a cliff for hours and now she was free-falling. Her whole body locked, then shattered.

And she collapsed.

Spent.

Wrecked.

Beautiful.

Her orgasm rolled through her like a wave that didn’t end—just kept cresting, shaking her apart from the inside. She didn’t cry. But her throat ached. Her breath was all broken sound and raw relief.

Soundless.

Shaking.

Coming so hard she couldn't move.

And Caitlin held the toy there until Kate was done—not just close. Not just on the brink.

Gone.

Caitlin held her through it. Soft words. Steady hands. No pressure. No fear.

Just love.

When it was over, Caitlin turned it off gently. Set it aside. Climbed up the bed and curled around her.

Kate was still trembling.

“You’re okay,” Caitlin whispered. “You’re okay.”

Kate couldn’t speak. She just clung. Her body was shaking with aftershocks.

When Kate finally opened her eyes, she looked wrecked. Destroyed, yet radiant. Her cheeks were tear-streaked. Her chest rose and fell in uneven gasps.

Caitlin didn’t look away. She couldn’t.

“I’ve never done that with anyone,” she whispered. “I’ve never let someone see me lose it like that.”

Caitlin kissed her eyelids. “You were beautiful.”

Kate let out a breath. “You make me feel…”

“What?”

“Like I’m not pretending,” she whispered.

Caitlin pulled her closer. “You never have to, with me."

Kate didn’t reply. She just curled into Caitlin’s side, her body loose and trembling. Her voice cracked as she whispered:

“Next time… maybe your hands.”

Caitlin’s breath caught. She pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Next time.”

And they stayed like that. Breath against breath.

Body to body.

A kind of sex that wasn’t about penetration.

A kind of love that was all about entry.

[mines-camren]

[mines-camren]

Caitlin Clark x Kate Martin Ch 4

Disclaimer: This is my first time writing a fic! Any feedback is welcome. Don't know exactly where I'm going with this but friends -> lovers, Caitlin's gay-awakening. I obviously don't own any of the rights to these characters etc. Inspired by the Caitlin x Kate music fics.

Song: Too Much - Carly Rae Jepsen

Caitlin

On the court, she was electric.

She hadn’t felt like herself all summer — not really. Not with the walls closing in back home, not with the chaos of switching commitments, not with the social distancing. But now? Under the fluorescent lights of Carver, ball in her hands, defenders closing fast — she felt it again.

Like the game belonged to her. Like her body had finally caught up with her heart.

Bluder watched a scrimmage unfold and didn’t even bother to hide her grin. “Clark to Martin. Martin to Clark. Magic.” 

They were. Even Caitlin knew it. She and Kate were everywhere. In sync. In step. Like someone had drawn a straight line between them and neither could veer from it.

Every no-look pass found Kate. Every outlet led to Caitlin. Their timing was freakishly perfect. The rest of the team had started joking about it — calling them twin telepathy. But no one said it out loud, what it actually felt like.

Gravity.

Off the court, the rhythm didn’t stop — it just got louder. They stretched side by side, elbows brushing. Shared AirPods on the team bus. Passed notes during film sessions. No one said anything. But everyone noticed.

Except them. Or maybe especially them.

It was getting harder for Caitlin to look away.

Am I bad for you? 'Cause I live for the fire, and the rain, and the drama, too, boy

The worst was after practice — when sweat still clung to their skin, Kate's compression shirt drenched. Caitlin would try and peel her eyes away from Kate when she changed out of her jersey. She looked godly, blonde mane, wiping the sweat off her neck with a towel, laughing with someone across the room. Caitlin would catch herself staring — for too long, with too much heat under her skin. Her throat would go dry, and she’d duck her head into her locker, cheeks burning, trying to turn the image off before she went to bed at night.

And it feels like you never say what you want. And it feels like I can't get through, babe

She hadn’t told anyone she liked girls. Not out loud. Not even in her own head, really. The thought lived in the periphery — foggy, unspoken, tucked behind excuses. She didn’t have time for distractions. She was focused on basketball. That’s what she told herself. That’s what she told everyone who asked about her dating life.

When I'm thinking, then I'm thinking too much. 

But the truth? It started all those months ago in Kate’s dorm. In the late-night voice notes that made her laugh too loud. In the way her chest tightened when she saw Kate’s name on her screen. She hadn’t called it what it was, because naming it meant letting it be real. And real meant terrifying.

Because what if it wasn’t just a friend crush? What if it wasn’t just admiration? What if the way her stomach flipped every time Kate leaned in meant something more? She hadn’t told anyone just how badly she wanted her.

Is this too, is this too much?

But the wanting, the yearning, the fire in her belly was there — quiet, growing, dangerous. And the way Kate smiled at her like she already knew? 

Is this too much?

That didn’t help. Not even a little.

Is this too, is this too, Is this too much?

That night after practice, Caitlin was the last one in the locker room. She sat on the bench, still half-laced in her sneakers, when Kate walked in to grab her sweatshirt.

Kate leaned against the doorway. “You okay?”

Caitlin didn’t look up right away. “Do you ever feel like the only time you’re breathing right is when you’re here?”

Kate didn’t hesitate. “Every single day.”

Caitlin smiled without showing her teeth. “Good. Thought I was losing it.”

Later that night, Kate knocked on Caitlin’s dorm door. She had a paper bag with a warm sandwich and a protein bar inside.

“You didn’t eat today,” Kate said.

Caitlin blinked, caught off guard. “I’m fine.”

Kate shrugged. “You didn’t eat.”

There wasn’t a fight. Caitlin took the bag and ate in silence while Kate sat on her desk chair, spinning slowly side to side.

When she finished, Caitlin mumbled, “Thanks.”

Kate just nodded. “Always.”

They didn’t talk about how often it happened after that. How sometimes Kate brought snacks. How Caitlin always finished them.

But Caitlin started to feel tethered. And terrified that someone was truly seeing her.

Am I too close?

—--------

Kate

The captaincy hit different.

She wanted it — badly. But now that it was hers, she couldn’t stop questioning what it meant. Why her. If she was ready.

The announcement came from Bluder in the middle of a quiet team meeting, a little nod and a soft clap. Monika pulled her aside after lifts. 

“You’re captain now,” she said, grinning. “That means fewer flings, more film.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “You sound like Coach.”

Monika didn’t budge. “I mean it. This team looks at you. You set the tone. Are you okay with that?”

Kate wanted to say yes. She did. But something in her stomach flipped. “I’m not gonna mess it up,” she said.

“I know,” Monika said. “But you’ve gotta live like that.”

That night, Kate stared at Amanda’s name in her phone. And deleted it. 

Not because she had to. But because it didn’t fit anymore. None of that did.

Because Caitlin was there. Every day. Every minute. And Kate didn’t know what it was, not yet — but she knew it mattered.

'Cause you fold into me like a heart with a beat

She was scared of what that meant. Of what people would say. Of what she might become if she let herself want too much.

But every time she caught Caitlin looking at her — at practice, at dinner, when she was tying her shoes — she felt it.

The gravity.

— 

Caitlin

She hadn’t wanted to go to the party. She said so twice, pacing in Kate’s room, arms crossed tight over her chest. “I’m not in the mood,” she muttered, avoiding Kate’s eyes. “It’s gonna be loud. Dumb. A bunch of sweaty guys screaming at a TV.”

She’d said it again while lying on Kate’s floor, head resting on a pile of laundry, scrolling aimlessly through her phone. “I don’t feel like it,” she muttered. “It’s just another football house.”

Kate tossed her one of her gray crewnecks and grinned. “So? We’ll leave early.” Caitlin sighed. But she tugged the sweatshirt on anyway. It smelled like Kate’s cologne and that settled her chest. 

That was the thing about Kate — she didn’t ask for much. But when she did, Caitlin never knew how to say no.

They walked in together, shoulder to shoulder. The place was packed. Half the football team crowded the kitchen. Music thudded through the floorboards. People laughed too loudly, drank too quickly, danced like they were trying to forget something. The house pulsed. Someone had dragged a speaker into the living room, and the floorboards thudded with every beat. Caitlin could feel the bass in her ribs.

'Cause I live for the fire, and the rain, and the drama, too,

Caitlin hated this. She hated parties. She hated the smoke, the heat, the shallow smiles. She hated how cramped the air felt. How some guy in a jersey looked her up and down before she’d even made it to the drinks table. She hated how badly her skin burned with the urge to be somewhere else — anywhere else — until Kate leaned in and muttered, “The music absolutely sucks,” and she laughed, really laughed, for the first time all night.

With Kate beside her, shoulder brushing hers every time she laughed — it didn’t feel quite so bad.

When I feel it, then I feel it too much

They drank. Slowly. Enough to feel warm. Enough for the edges to blur. Somewhere behind them, someone shouted about starting a game of Kings.

“I hate this game,” Caitlin said.

She tried to fade into the background, half-heartedly sipping whatever someone handed her in a Solo cup, but the circle found her. She sat down. So did Kate, right next to her, knees knocking together.

It was fine.

Until it wasn’t.

The laughter was too loud. A guy from the swim team — slick hair, cocky grin, obvious hands — sat on her other side. He kept leaning in too close. Asking her name like he didn’t already know it. Brushed her knee like it was casual. Kate saw it. Caitlin could feel the tension radiating off her.

And Caitlin felt it too. Not the guy. Not really. But the way Kate was watching her. The heat in her cheeks.

When I feel it, then I feel it too much...

Then came the dare.

“Caitlin,” one of the girls slurred, “kiss the person to your left.”

Swim guy grinned. “That’s me, right?”

Caitlin didn’t move. Didn’t speak. She didn’t even know his name: Nate, or Neil, or something. To her left was nothing but a smug smile, lifted eyebrows, and the whole group egging her on.

Caitlin didn’t move.

The guy leaned in. “C’mon, it’s just a game.”

That’s when Kate stood up. Fast. Controlled. Voice sharp but steady.

“She doesn’t want to.”

The room went quiet for a beat too long.

Swim guy blinked. “Relax, it’s—”

“She doesn’t want to,” Kate repeated, stepping between them. Her voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t have to be. The room quieted — not completely, but enough.

Swim guy held up his hands like he was the victim. “Jesus. Didn’t know she had a girlfriend.”

And Caitlin’s heart thrashed in her chest. She didn’t look at Kate. Just stared at her drink and thought, “Do I?”

When I'm drinking, then I'm drinking too much

Kate corrected him, sharp and clean: “You mean, Captain.” And the whole room sort of laughed and sort of didn’t.

The moment passed, it was someone else's turn. But not for Caitlin. For her, everything in the room disappeared. No music. No people. Just that question looping in her skull. “Do I?”

When I'm thinking, then I'm thinking too much

Kate walked toward the porch. Caitlin hesitated, then followed.The air outside was colder than she expected. Caitlin didn’t speak. Her heart still thundered.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she muttered.

Kate slowed beside her. “I didn’t like the way he was touching you.”

“I could’ve handled it.”

“I know.”

Caitlin crossed her arms. “Then why did you jump in like that?”

Kate paced. Hands shoved into her jacket. “Because he wasn’t listening.”

“You didn’t have to blow it up.”

“I wasn’t going to let him touch you.”

And Caitlin hated that it made her feel something. She hated how much she needed to hear it.

Kate stared at the ground. Then up. Her voice cracked. “Do you know what it does to me when I see that?”

And it feels like you never say what you want

Caitlin blinked. “What?”

“Him. Looking at you like you’re just… a thing. Like he has a right to you.”

And it feels like I can't get through, babe

Caitlin didn’t know what to say. She opened her mouth. Closed it. “That whole thing. You—stepping in. Acting like—”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m yours.” The collar of Kate’s sweatshirt felt too tight. Too warm. Like she was wearing a secret in public.

Kate’s voice didn’t falter. “Are you?”

Is this too much?

Caitlin’s breath caught. She didn’t know. Or maybe she did. But if she said it, it would be real. So she said something awful. Something safe. “I didn’t mind him.” And that was the moment she regretted as soon as the words left her mouth. Because Kate flinched. Visibly. What was going through her head?

Caitlin didn’t want to hurt her. She just didn’t want to be the one who wanted more. Not first. Not out loud. She was terrified that if she let herself want, really want, she’d ruin everything. And if Kate didn’t feel the same — if this was all in her head — then she’d lose the only person who’d ever made her feel seen.

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit.” Caitlin’s eyes went soft. Kate knew her too well.

Caitlin looked away. “Okay, maybe I did... Mind it”

Kate stepped closer. Not touching. Just closer.

“I…” Caitlin stared at the ground. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Yeah,” Kate said. “Well, welcome to the club.”

Caitlin exhaled sharply. Her hands trembled. “I’m scared.”

Is this too much?

“Of what?”

“This is all fucked,” Caitlin muttered. “We don’t talk about it. We don’t say anything. But then you get angry if I breathe near someone else.”

Am I too close? 'Cause you fold into me like a heart with a beat

The silence stretched between them — until Kate stepped closer. Slowly. Like she didn’t want to spook her. Kate exhaled hard. “You want me to say it?”

“I don’t know,” Caitlin whispered.

“Because I will.”

And did you know that I'm wild for your skin

“Then say it.”

And the dance that we're in?

A beat.

Kate shook her head. “This is already something,” she said. “You pretending it’s not doesn’t make it go away.”

So close now, so close now

Caitlin leaned back against the railing. Cold in Kate’s sweatshirt. Cold everywhere else. “It could ruin everything, Kate.”

Kate stepped in. So close now Caitlin could feel her breath. “It already has.”

Is this too, is this too, Is this too much?

Caitlin opened her mouth — to deflect, to backpedal, to say something awful and protective — but nothing came. Just Kate, too close, too calm. If she didn’t move now, she’d lose her. So she did. And then—

Too much... too much... too much

It happened.

Caitlin kissed her. 

If this is love, I might be too much...

Not out of impulse. Not out of fear. But because it had been building — in locker rooms and sideline glances and unsent texts — and because she couldn’t not kiss Kate Martin anymore.

It wasn’t soft. Not at first. It was desperate. Like something snapped. Her hands were in Kate’s hair. She flicked her tongue across Kate’s lips, they instantly parted like they’d been waiting for this moment since the second they met.

Kate kissed her back. Fiercely. Fully. Letting her tongue explore Caitlin’s mouth, feeling the heat between them. Feeling what it was like to breathe Caitlin’s air.  And then—slower. Gentler. A thumb brushing her cheek. A nose bumping hers. Caitlin pulled back just enough to breathe.

When they pulled back, Caitlin rested her forehead against Kate’s. “This doesn’t feel like nothing.”

Kate didn’t hesitate. “It’s not.”

Caitlin’s voice wavered. “So what do we do?”

Kate’s answer was barely audible as she twirled her fingers through Caitlin’s straightened hair. “Try not to fall in love too fast.”

'Cause if I love you, then I love you too much

And Caitlin almost whispered, “Too late.” But the words stayed in her mouth, safe for now.

They didn’t say another word the rest of the walk home.

But their pinkies brushed.

And when they reached Kate’s building, Caitlin hesitated.

“Should I stay?”

Kate didn’t answer.

She just opened the door.

[mines-camren]

[mines-camren]

[mines-camren]

THE FIRST MEETING

Part 4

Summary: Just my take on Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark Meeting for the first time.

Rating/warning: none

Kate Martin POV

“What’s on your mind?” I asked Caitlin as we were walking around the campus pretty late at night now.

“A lot actually,” she answered as she looked to the ground. “I don’t know if I’m making the right decision.”

I looked at her and she finally looked me in the eye and all I wanted to do was hold her. She looked stressed out and overwhelmed, I wanted to protect her from all the pressure she felt.

“You have to do what feels right for you, what you think is gonna make you happy.” I said and Caitlin’s eyes started to tear up.

“I’ve already committed to Norte Dame, my parents have always wanted me to go there especially because it’s a catholic school and when they offered I thought it was a no brainer.”

I looked at her confused and a little hurt, “why are you here then?” I asked.

“I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision but I didn’t expect to love it here at Iowa as much as I do.” Caitlin frustratedly laughed, “the coaching staff is amazing and I just wanna be apart of something special.”

I watched Caitlin as she spoke with passion, “I wanna win championships, I wanna break records and take this team to places it’s never been before.”

I could see it in her eyes, Caitlin had an incredibly competitive spirit, she had a spark a certain kind of fire in her.

“Do you want me here?” Caitlin asked and I was a little taken aback.

“Of course I want you here, I want to win just as much as you. I’ll do whatever it takes and I know I’m not a 5 star recruit like you but I have heart and I work my ass off everyday to get better. Hell every girl on our team is like that and you’d be lucky to call them your teammates.” I said and Caitlin just stared at me with those big brown eyes and smiled, “well then it’s settled, I’m a Hawkeye. You’ve made a very compelling argument and I wanna be apart of your team.”

I smiled and wrapped her up in my arms and gave her a bone crushing hug, “you’re seriously gonna commit here?!”

“Yes I will, if you don’t kill me first!” She struggled to say and I let go, “sorry my bad, I’m just excited. I don’t know if you know but you’re a pretty big deal.” I laughed and Caitlin quickly replied, “oh trust me, I know.” She said with a sly smile.

This girl was gonna be the death of me, she was cute, funny and confident. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to kiss her and wipe that stupid grin off her face.

“How do you think your parents are gonna handle the news?” I asked and Caitlin groaned, “ugh please don’t remind me but I’m sure they will understand. They’ve always supported me in my decisions and I finally feel like I’m making the right one.” She said with a soft smile.

“You know,” I told Caitlin, “I’ve wanted to be a Hawkeye pretty much my whole life, I use to sleep with an Iowa women’s basketball poster above my bed so it was the first thing I saw when I woke up and the last thing I saw when I went to sleep. This is my dream, I’m happy I’m gonna get to share it with you now.” I looked at her and gave a warm smile.

“I promise you I’m going to give my all to this program, captain Martin.” She said and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I know you will and damn the coaches are going to go crazy once you tell them, they haven’t been able to shut up about you.”

I continued to tease Caitlin about her popularity but she ate it up, she loved being center of attention because she knows she deserves it. She’s earned all the hype around her.

As we got to the end of our walk and I had to drop Caitlin off to her room she was staying at for the night, as we were standing outside her door she asked me something that I wasn’t fully expecting.

“Hey that girl I saw you with earlier tonight, is she your girlfriend?”

My eyes went wide and if I had a drink I would have spit it out for dramatic effect but I composed myself and said, “no not at all, she’s just a friend.”

Caitlin smirked, “oh really, so you hookup with your friends a lot?”

This time I faked gasped and put my hand to my chest, “whoa what are you talking about, I would never do such a thing.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes, “well I saw your friend leave the party and she looked mad but she also had a pretty big hickey forming on her neck. I’m sure you had nothing to do with that.”

Caitlin was teasing me and I didn’t like that she thought she had the upper hand in this situation. I leaned closer and lowered my voice, “And what if I did? Are you jealous I didn’t give you a hickey?”

Caitlin lightly pushed me back, “you wish” she said and for a split second I thought about pushing her up against her door and kissing her.

But instead I said, “well then you’re lucky you’re gonna be my teammate now, I have a strict rule no messing around or falling in love with teammates!”

“That’s going to be very difficult for you Captain because everyone loves me.”

“Is that so?” I said, “you seem like you’re gonna be more of a pain in my ass actually.” I laughed and she hit my arm.

“Hey you better shut up or I’m changing my mind!” Caitlin pouted

“Okay fine, I’m sorry but you started it!” I said and she looked down shyly.

“I was just curious I guess.” She mumbled and I reached out to gently lift her face and I made her look at me.

“Hey it’s okay, we are gonna be teammates you can talk to me about anything. I wanna be here for you, we all will.” I added quickly and she nodded her head in approval.

As Caitlin turned to open her door and head in for the night I couldn’t help but smile. I was excited for what the future held and I was ready to make the most out of this opportunity.

Right then and there I told myself I wouldn’t do anything to mess this up. My feelings or whatever they were for Caitlin would not get in the way. The team was the most important thing and as Caitlin turned to me to say goodnight, I gave her a quick hug and said my goodnight too.

As I walked away and headed to my dorm room, I felt like I was on cloud 9. We got one of the top recruits in the country and yeah I may have a tiny crush on her but our team just got 10x times better. I couldn’t stop thinking about Caitlin and when I finally fell asleep, she was in my dreams. And in my dream we were meeting again for the first time.

[mines-camren]

THE FIRST MEETING

Part 3

Summary: Just my take on Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark Meeting for the first time.

Rating/warning: 18+ (smut)

Kate Martin POV

After taking Caitlin to the Iowa football game we all decided to go to an after party. We wanted to show her a good time and so far by the looks of it she was having fun. Gabbie and Monika were keeping Caitlin busy most of the night, even getting her to dance, which she wasn’t the best at but looked adorable while trying.

I was standing off to the side in the corner and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her the whole night, something about her was special. As I was watching Caitlin and the girls out on the dance floor, a girl I use to hookup with often on the softball team named Amanda came up to me. “Hey,” she said “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

I finally tore my gaze from Caitlin and focused my attention to the short blond who was talking to me now. “Yeah sorry about that, basketball has been keeping me pretty busy.”

She leaned toward me and grabbed my waist, “well miss basketball star you don’t look busy now. Don’t you miss me?” She said as she looked up to meet my eyes. I couldn’t help but smile and looking at her now more closely I could tell Amanda had a couple drinks and was trying to be flirty.

I pulled her closer and bent down so I could whisper in her ear, “You know I miss you, but don’t start something you can’t finish.” I looked at her with a smirk, I liked teasing her and I know she loved it.

She bit her bottom lip and had a look in her eyes that looked like she wanted to devour me right then and there.

Amanda quickly grabbed my hand and dragged me through a crowd of people. I had no time to protest and honestly I didn’t want to, it had been awhile since I hooked up with anyone and it would be nice to release some of this tension I’ve built up.

I let her lead the way excited about what was to come but I took one last glance toward the girls and locked eyes with Caitlin. She looked confused, I could see her eyes looking back and forth between Amanda and I.

I quickly avoided her gaze, I didn’t care if Caitlin knew I was gay or not but I didn’t want her to think I was a person who sleeps around. Even though I’ve gained a bit of a reputation with the women’s softball and soccer team but she doesn’t need to know that.

As I was beginning to worry, Amanda finally found an empty room and pulled me in. As soon as the door shut I pulled her flush to my body and our lips crashed together in a messy kiss. All I wanted to do was forget about Caitlin and her stupid big brown eyes.

I pushed my tongue past her lips and Amanda gladly let me explore her mouth. As I ran my fingers through her hair we both moaned into each other mouths. I picked her up and put my hands on her ass to hold her as she wrapped her legs around my waist. I then walked us to the bed and laid her down without breaking our kiss.

We were both breathless when I broke the kiss to attack her neck, I nipped and sucked on her pulse point while grinding my hips into hers. Amanda moaned loudly, “fuck Kate, please touch me, I need you inside me.”

I grabbed her face to give her a hard kiss and bit her bottom lip. I whispered hotly in her ear,

“How do you want me to fuck you baby?” I told her breathless, “do you want my fingers or tongue?”

She cried out desperately, “your tongue, I wanna fucking cum in your mouth.”

Hearing that made my hips buck up hard into hers, Amanda was always good at working me up with her dirty talk.

“You know I don’t let many women cum in my mouth so you’re lucky I’m horny and miss the way you taste,” I said with a smirk as I began to unbuckle her jeans and just pulled her panties down at the same time.

She kicked them off and said, “oh shut up you love when I talk dirty.” Now that she was completely naked from the waist down, I spread her legs open and pinned them down to the bed.

I stared in awe at how wet she was, “fuck you’re so wet baby and your pussy looks delicious.” I couldn’t wait a longer, I brought my face to her dripping center and licked her from her entrance to her clit.

Amanda cried out and bucked her hips up into my face and I tightened my grip on her thighs to keep her still while I continued licking her.

I then dipped my tongue into her pussy as deep as I could. I started to fuck her with my tongue and my nose was hitting her clit, she couldn’t stop moaning. I loosened my grip on her hips so she could grind into my mouth and she started losing control.

“Fuck Kate I’m gonna cum,” she cried out and I don’t know why but at that moment the thought of Caitlin screaming my name like that crossed my mind. Once that happened I couldn’t stop myself, I thought about what Caitlin would taste like and if she would moan just as loud as Amanda or was she more quiet in bed. Hell I wondered if she’s ever been with anyone period.

I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on making Amanda cum.

She was shaking, “I’m cumming baby fuck don’t stop,” I let her ride out her orgasm as I cleaned up all her juices.

“God that tongue of yours is amazing,” she said out of breath. I wiped my mouth and laughed as I came up to give her a quick kiss, “you’re welcome,” I said.

She looked at me, “now it’s your turn, miss basketball” she smile and began to take my sweats and panties off.

I’m not gonna lie, I was horny as hell and wanted my release but Caitlin was still on my mind. I felt bad but not bad enough to stop so I found a loophole. I grabbed Amanda and kissed her deeply, “I wanna try something,” I told her. “Lay on her stomach, I wanna fuck myself on your ass.”

I thought if I didn’t look at her it wouldn’t be as bad. It’s all I could think of and she was more than willing. She got on her tummy and stuck her ass in the air, I licked my lips as I straddled her ass cheeks and lowered my wet pussy. I stared to grind down hard on her so my clit could get as much friction as possible.

I kept moaning while moving my hips faster back and forth, building up my orgasm. I was so close, I wanted to cum so badly but again Caitlin came into my mind and I thought of her big brown eyes and I couldn’t hold off anymore, I came hard.

“Holy shit,” I said as I laid down back on the bed tired as hell.

“So who the fuck is this Caitlin girl?” Amanda said as she stood up and started looking for her clothes.

I shot up from my place in bed, “What are you talking about?”

Amanda looked pissed, “really Kate, you’re gonna play dumb? You literally just moaned her name out when you came on my ass!” She shouted, I started to get up and tried to console her, “hey I’m really sorry, I didn’t even realize I did that.”

She pushed me away, “just get away from me Kate.” She got dressed quickly and left the room. Fuck I messed up bad, I got dressed and headed out the room. The party was dying down and I saw Gabbie, Monika and Caitlin talking so I walked up to them.

“Hey guys are y’all ready to go soon?” I asked as I put my hands in my pockets and avoided eye contact with Caitlin. She was staring at me, taking in my appearance which I hoped wasn’t too bad.

“Yeah it’s getting late we should call it a night.” Gabbie said and then Monika had to open her mouth. “Hey where were you most of the night. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Were you off hooking up with someone?” She laughed

“Oh shut up and let’s go!” I tried to play it off as we walked out the house.

I felt a tug on my arm, “hey can we talk for a little bit,” Caitlin said to me and I stayed cool. “Yeah of course,” I said. “hey guys I’m gonna take a walk with Caitlin we’ll meet up with y’all later.”

I was nervous about being alone with Caitlin but I was also kind of excited.

[mines-camren]

THE FIRST MEETING

Part 2

Summary: Just my take on Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark Meeting for the first time.

Rating/warning: none

Kate Martin POV

It was finally the official visit day for our new 5 star recruit and I was ready to impress. Not only was Caitlin coming here to check out the school, she was coming to scout out her potentially new teammates and I wanted to show her that at this program we are serious about winning.

That we’re hard workers and we care about each other, not only as teammates but as people. Coach Bluder said she’d be sitting in on our practice today and after that the girls and I can show Caitlin around Campus. I don’t wanna let the coaching staff down, they’ve been talking about what a big deal she is all week.

I want to lead this team one day and if I can convince Caitlin to play for our program, hopefully the coaches will see how serious I am about being a leader.

As we were warming up for practice by doing some stretching with Coach J the gym doors opened and there Coach Bluder was, walking towards us with a girl I could only assume was the Caitlin Clark.

The first thing I noticed about her was her height, she was tall about my height but not my size. She was a lot skinnier but I felt like she uses that to her advantage, she’s probably quick on her feet uses her speed to drive past opponents.

As they got closer I noticed more of her facial features, she looked young with her big brown eyes and her hair was in a tight ponytail with a thin headband keeping her baby hairs out of her face. She seemed confident with a smile on her face and I’m sure she was. She knows how good she is and that a lot of the top schools in the country want her.

When Coach Bluder spoke it broke my stare I had on Caitlin, “Okay ladies I want you to meet, Caitlin Clark. She’s going to be sitting in on our practice today. Caitlin would you like to introduce yourself?”

“Sure I can do that.” She gave a little wave and said, “my names Caitlin, I’m from Des Monies Iowa, I’m a point guard and I have a deep love for basketball and I’m really considering continuing my basketball career here.”

The team all started introducing themselves to Caitlin really quickly before practice had to start. When it was my turn we locked eyes and I said, “my names Kate but you can call me captain Martin.” I flashed a smile at her and she blushed.

Monika nudged me, “Don’t mind her, she thinks she’s the shit.” Caitlin laughed and I couldn’t help but notice she was kind of cute. I hushed Monika, “oh be quiet, you know I’m the coolest person on this team! Isn’t that right Gabbie?”

She rolled her eyes at me, “of course you are Kate, now can we focus practice is about to start.”

I turned to face Caitlin and took a step toward her getting into her personal space a bit, “I hope you pay close attention, these girls may very well be your teammates for the next four years. I mean if we’re ever so lucky enough to have you commit here.”

She looked into my eyes and I felt a little nervous with her stare being so intense, she leaned in even closer and lowered her voice, “you want me to commit here?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer, “well then show me how much you want me.”

Caitlin smirked and with that she took her spot next to Coach Bluder and they began to talk about what drills and plays we were gonna work on in practice.

I was a little stunned that Caitlin had so much confidence for an upcoming freshman but I liked it. She was refreshing and that made me want to impress her even more. During practice I was working up a sweat and knocking down all my shots.

Every time I would make a bucket I couldn’t help but glance at Caitlin. More often than not we would lock eyes and it was nice to know she was watching.

“Okay ladies great practice,” Coach J said, “go enjoy the rest of your day and we’ll see you on Monday.”

As I was walking to the locker room to change I saw Gabbie and McKenna talking with Caitlin.

“Hey Kate,” Gabbie called, “Caitlin actually loves football and is really excited to go to the football game tonight with the team.”

“Okay that’s great,” I said and turned so my attention was on Caitlin. “Let us change out of these sweaty clothes and we’ll meet you outside.” I caught Caitlin staring at my compression shirt that was sticking to my body because of how hard I worked out. I smiled, “Or you could come in with us and I can show you around the locker room?”

Caitlin finally noticed that I spotted her checking me out and quickly denied, “no it’s okay, I’m fine I’ll just wait for y’all outside.”

As she walked away, I couldn’t help but watch her. Monika looked at me with a suspicion and I said innocently “What?”

“Oh don’t you get any ideas Martin, she is off limits!” Monika scolded me, “stay away from the freshman, you can have any girl at this school but her!”

I let out a sigh as I sat down on the bench in the locker room, “you know saying things like that will only make me want her more.” I laughed as Monika tried to punch me, “I’m just kidding, you know I don’t date on the team, I wouldn’t put our team chemistry in jeopardy like that. Also I don’t even know if she likes girls and I don’t care.”

I think I sounded pretty convincing because after that Monika let it go and we all met up with Caitlin. After only a couple hours of hanging out with her and the team, I saw how easily she got along with everyone. She was very talkative and goofy in a good way, she just had a personality that you gravitated to.

I wanted to talk with her more and get to know her better but usually on these visits you just get to know people on a superficial level. So far though Caitlin was cool and really hope she liked us.

[mines-camren]

THE FIRST MEETING

Part 1

Summary: Just my take of Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark Meeting for the first time.

Rating/warning: none

Kate Martin POV

The pain was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I was screaming like my life had ended and in that moment it really felt like it had. At a women’s Iowa basketball practice before my freshman year I tore my ACL. I’ve never had to deal with a major injury in my basketball career before, let alone a season ending one.

It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through but strangely it was also one of the best things that could have happened to me. Being redshirted that year and being on the bench really taught me how to be a team player and root for my teammates success. In High school I had a bit of an ego with being one of the best players and team captain, so being sidelined that year was new to me.

But it kept me humble and motivated me to get in the gym and get healthy again. By the time my sophomore year came around I was back in the rotation and getting playing time.

“Hey Martin!” coach Bluder called, “come over here for second, I gotta talk to you.”

We were finishing up a practice and I was a little nervous to be called out but kept cool as I walked up to her, “What’s up coach? Is everything okay?”

Coach was straight to the point, “We have a recruit coming for an official visit next week, her name’s Caitlin Clark and she’s someone we really want to lock down. The coaching staff and I were hoping you and some of the other girls on the team could show her around campus, maybe take her to a football game. We really think she might be the missing piece to this team.”

I had not heard of this supposed 5 star recruit but I didn’t wanna let coach down so I accepted, “Yes of course coach, the girls and I can do that! Anything to make the team better.”

“That a girl,” coach said, “I knew I could count on you, you’re starting to become a real leader for this team.”

With that, practice had ended so I walked to the locker room to change and ask my teammates if they have heard of this new recruit.

“Hey guys, have y’all heard of a girl named Caitlin Clark?”

Gabbie was the first to answer, “yeah she’s like the number 1 high school recruit in all of Iowa.”

Monika added, “the girls a point guard that can shoot from long range bit of a sniper with great handles and court vision.”

McKenna looked at me and laughed, “wow Kate I can’t believe you haven’t heard of her.”

“Well damn my bad,” I say as I finish getting dressed. “Since y’all love this Clark girl so much I’m sure you’re gonna be excited to hear this but we all our going to be her tour guides when she takes her official recruit visit!”

“Wait, really?” Gabbie said and Monika added, “We can’t mess this up guys, she’s a five star recruit. We don’t get a lot of those around here.”

Hearing Monika say that stung a little but she was right, programs like Iowa don’t get many opportunities like this and Coach was counting on me.

“Okay,” I said, “we are gonna show this girl such a good time that she won’t even think about going to any other school!”

“Oh yeah, how are we gonna do that miss captain Kate?”

“First of all thank you for calling me captain,” I flash a smile and a quick wink at Monika, “second we take her to a football game hopefully they win and third we take her to an after party where she will have the time of her life. She’ll commit to Iowa by the end of the week.”

McKenna was first to criticize my plan, “what if she doesn’t even like football or partying like you Kate, not everyone is a frat boy.” She laughed and that earned some giggles from Gabbie. I tried my hardest to glare at them but it didn’t work out.

“Okay so it’s not the best plan but it’s honestly all we got,” Gabbie said, “I think we should just be ourselves and don’t try to make her feel pressured in any way. I can only imagine the kind of pressure she’s under already.”

“Yeah you’re right,” Monika said, “we gotta make her feel comfortable.”

I clapped my hands together to get their attention, “okay great talk ladies!” I grabbed my bag to head out. “I’m glad we are all on the same page, I’m gonna go see y’all at practice tomorrow.”

As I got back to my dorm I contemplated on goggling Caitlin Clark but I decided not to. All I needed to know is that she’s crazy good at basketball and she’s considering playing for our team.