Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I lift my face. At least this is easy to say. “Well, we’re having sex tonight.”
“Ooh la la. So, I guess you’re ready.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I’m going to shower before the game. Make sure I’m good and clean in all the ways.”
“Good plan. But I meant are you ready in other ways? Emotionally? You always wanted your first time to be with the right guy. Is he the right guy?”
My heart thunders, knowing the answer before I do, trying to tap it out in the Morse code of beats. “Aside from being a ballplayer and also my teammate, he absolutely is.”
There are just those two big barriers between us.
That’s all.
But I don’t want to think about obstacles, so I ask what she’s been up to, and we shoot the breeze for a few minutes. When we end the call, I find a new text on my phone.
One that punches me in the chest.
It’s from my mom.
* * *
Mom: Hey, handsome! Did my dad tell you we’ll be at Opening Day??? Can’t wait to see my little boy catch his FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE GAME! Frank and I are so happy for you. He says it’s been too long. He can’t wait to catch up. He has so much to talk to you about.
* * *
Yeah, he probably wants to apologize for the ten thousandth time. Whatever, I’m over it.
Over all of my mom’s boyfriends and husbands. All my dad’s wives and girlfriends. I don’t need to be their show pony.
But I find it’s best to just smile and wave, so I tap out a quick reply.
* * *
Grant: Let’s hope I make the starting lineup. If so, see you then! Should be an awesome day.
* * *
The day I’ve longed for my whole entire life. But I don’t want them to ruin it, so I try to shove my parents out of my mind.
I shed my workout clothes, pull on shorts and a shirt, then grab a Lyft to The Lazy Hammock, since I’m jonesing for a distraction.
As I eat a light lunch, I chat with River at the bar about growing up in Northern California, then moving here.
“What brought you to Phoenix?” I ask.
The inked bartender sighs a little wistfully and scrubs a hand across his short beard. “A man.”
“Your partner?”
He shakes his head, frowning, but seeming resigned. “Nope. He’s history now. Caught him cheating.”
“Ouch,” I say, crinkling my nose.
“Yup. But that’s okay. I won’t let one bad one get me down,” he says, smiling quickly, like he’s letting the world know he’s all good.
“Words to live by.”
“And you and that guy from the other night looked quite cozy. Is he someone serious?” River’s eyebrows rise in question.
I shouldn’t say a word. But River already saw us. River was on the receiving end of Declan’s fit of jealousy when my teammate threw down a claim on me. “He’s the kind you wish you could be serious with, you know?”
River pats my hand. “I do, hun. I absolutely know.” He flashes a sympathetic smile, one that seems to telegraph where Declan and I are headed. “Enjoy it while it lasts, right?”
I lift my Diet Coke and drink to that.
Time to kick this funk to the ground. Tonight, I’m getting laid, and that’s what I want.
I don’t want to think about endings.
Six hours later, I’m showered, shaved, dressed in tight jeans that make my ass look great, a gray T-shirt that shows off my arms, and a ball cap. After grabbing a hoodie, I head down to the lobby to meet Declan.
When I spot him just outside the sliding doors, tossing his keys up and down in his palm, I have to fight not to stare at him the way I want.
He’s so damn handsome it makes my chest hurt.
He wears jeans and a blue polo that stretches just so across his pecs, that hugs his arms deliciously, that teases at his flat stomach that I love to kiss and lick.
But it’s his face that does me in. His chiseled jaw, his full lips, his strong cheekbones. Most of all, his eyes. They are my downfall. Dark brown and brimming with passion and possibility.
Once I lock eyes with him, I will go up in flames.
When he spots me walking to him, he turns in slow motion, his eyes meeting mine. He takes me in, and shoots me a hungry, needy look that says he can’t look away either.
Yep, fire.
But it’s so much more. I burn deeply for him.
He’s not only all I can think about. He’s all I want to think about.
29
Declan
The second we’re off the hotel property and hit the first light, I jerk my gaze to Grant.
“You look fucking incredible,” I tell him.
His smile lights my soul as he says with a rumble, “So do you.”
I rake my gaze over the man in the passenger seat, the air-conditioning humming around us. “Correction: you look good enough to eat.”