Catching His Heart (Love And Baseball Book 1)

by Kelsie Swaney

  “You did so good baby,” I said with a smile.

  “Yeah, I always play better when you’re here firefly,” he said before nuzzling my neck.

  I swatted him when he pulled me close. He was all sweaty, and while that was a turn on to look at, it wasn’t so hot when all that sweat was touching me. He wiped his sweaty face against mine and I squealed. He was so gonna get punished for that later.

  “Gross! Carson, go take a shower,” I giggled.

  “Alright, but only if you promise to be here waiting for me with a kiss when I come back,” he said with a smile.

  “Anything to get you to go take a shower,” I teased.

  “You know you love when I’m all sweaty,” he said before dropping one last kiss on my cheek.

  I watched him walk away, noticing Reed drop a kiss on Kami’s lips before following after Carson. We sighed in unison and leaned against each other for support. I wondered how long it would take Kami to say what we were both thinking.

  “Our guys are hot,” she said after two seconds.

  There’s my girl! I can always count on her to say something about the hotness of guys. Don’t get me wrong, my best friend isn’t completely boy crazy. She likes to look, but she would never act on it unless there was some kind of connection between her and the guy. She’s been that way since high school when she found out that her boyfriend, Shane, had had a long-term girlfriend that he was still with when they got together. She can appreciate a good looking guy, but she’s more selective when it comes to who she will be with.

  “Yeah, they are,” I said with a grin.

  A little while later the boys walked out, being yelled at by their coach as they went. He followed them right to us, not stopping his lecture even in our presence. Coach was yelling about his two star players being too whipped to care about the game and I wanted to laugh. Carson and Reed loved playing ball together more than anything, not even two girls as awesome as we are could change that.

  I slipped my hand into Carson’s when Coach wasn’t looking and I could tell he was fighting a grin. Kami did the same with Reed, except he couldn’t fight his grin. Coach smacked him on the back of the head and that was it for me. I couldn’t hold in my laughter any more.

  “Ah Coach, give them a break. They work hard, and you won’t find two guys that love the game more. No one can change how they feel about playing, not even us,” I said after I stopped laughing.

  Carson pulled me into his side and kissed my cheek. Reed kissed the tip of Kami’s nose and I smiled. They were too cute. I looked back to Coach and he was smiling.

  “You two better treat these ladies right. I have a feeling they could find other guys to do that if you can’t,” he said gruffly.

  A breeze was kicking up, causing me to shiver. In my hurry to get to the game I had forgotten to grab Carson’s jacket from my car. He rubbed his hands up and down my arms, frowning when I still shivered.

  “Don’t worry Coach. This relationship has been years in the making, so I’m not going to screw this up,” Carson said before slipping his jacket off and wrapping it around me.

  I snuggled into his jacket and brought the sleeves to my nose. He laughed at me, so I stuck my tongue out at him. The jacket smelled like rain and something else I couldn’t quite describe, something that was uniquely Carson. He zipped up the jacket and kept his arms around my waist.

  “Good. Now you four behave,” he said before turning around to walk away.

  “Yes Coach,” we called.

  At the last second, he turned around and looked right at Reed. “Reed, it’s alright to let yourself have this.”

  Reed didn’t say anything, just nodded. He knew that Coach had said what he needed to say. He waved as he walked away, leaving me to wonder how much he really knows about Reed’s issues. Reed had always been close to Coach, but none of us knew why. None of us had ever been over to his place, not even Carson, and they are best friends. Even after years of being friends, Reed was still just one big mystery to me.

  We paired off, saying goodbye to each other. I told Kami to call me tomorrow because she was going to have to give me details. I waved to Reed and he blew me a kiss. Carson didn’t say goodbye to either of them, just started pulling me towards the parking lot.

  “I hate that you came separately. I won’t get to have you cuddled up next to me in the truck on the way home, and I love that,” he pouted.

  “I know, but there is always next time,” I said with a smile.

  “Not having you with me all the time sucks. I just want to keep you close and not have to give you up,” he whined.

  I smiled at his whining. I swear he can go from cool and mature to adorable and immature in two seconds flat. I pressed my lips to his, effectively stopping all his whining.

  “I know baby, but it won’t always be like this,” I told him as I pulled away.

  “I know. It’s just hard for me. I mean being able to tell you all this is new. I’m so used to having to keep these feelings to myself. I mean, yeah, we tell each other everything, but there are certain things that I always knew I could never say or do when it came to you because our friendship was always too important. Now I can tell you everything and do everything I’ve always wanted to, but the catch is that I let myself need you so bad that giving you up for any amount of time hurts.”

  “Awwwww that’s so sweet! You have no idea how great it is to know that it wasn’t just me holding everything back. I was always so worried that you didn’t feel the same way, so I kept everything bottled up. I used to go home after hanging out with you and stare at the ceiling and think about all the things you didn’t know and all the things I couldn’t say. I loved spending time with you, but not being able to tell you was pure torture.”

  He dropped the tailgate of his truck and lifted me up. He moved between my legs and kissed me softly. I put one hand over his heart when he pulled away and he smiled a soft and gentle smile. He looked like a man who was truly happy.

  “Well, no more. We are where we’ve always wanted to be now, so we aren’t going to worry about what used to be.”

  Carson left my side and went to pull something out of the passenger side of the truck. I couldn’t tell what he was doing, so I just decided to go with the flow and let him surprise me. He came back and this time he was holding his guitar. I squealed and clapped in delight as he climbed up beside me. He started playing a Jordin Sparks song, This is My Now, and I laid back and listened to him sing to me.

  After that song he told me to get in my car and meet him at his place. I argued for more songs first, but he promised to play me more when we got there. I told him to pinky promise and he smiled while shaking his head, but he did it anyway. We both rushed back home and I beat him there by seconds, getting out while he pulled up.

  I grabbed his other jacket and handed it to him. I quickly explained that that one had stopped smelling like him, so I needed him to wear it for a while. He smiled and slipped into it. I pulled the sleeves of the jacket I was wearing back up to my nose and took a long sniff.

  “That is one lucky jacket. Why not come sniff the source,” he said seriously.

  He was right. Why was I sniffing the jacket when I could be sniffing him? I immediately let my hands fall and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling myself closer to him. I sniffed his chest and then got up on my toes to sniff his neck.

  “Oh god, you smell even better right here,” I said as I nuzzled his neck.

  One of his hands cupped the back of my head, pulling me closer. I kissed his neck and felt him shiver. At least now I knew I wasn’t the only one affected by a kiss on the neck.

  “Sweetheart,” he said, clearing his throat. “I hope you know that if you keep doing that I’m going to push for something that you aren’t ready for yet, and if you stop I’m going to melt into a puddle,” he said gruffly.

  “Pick your poison,” I said, and I was surprised when it came out huskily.

  “God, stop baby. I would rather be a pu
ddle than push you to do anything,” he said, all while pulling me closer.

  “You say stop, but your body is screaming go,” I purred.

  “Of course, it is baby, I’ve got you pressed up against me, that’s all it takes. I won’t deny that I want you, but now isn’t the time for me to have you. I want to make that first time special, because it’s me and you baby, and you aren’t just any other girl to me,” he said before picking me up in his arms and cradling me.

  He grabbed his guitar and slung it around his neck before taking me inside. He was killing me with sweetness today and honestly, if I was going to die, this was not a bad way to do it. We didn’t see his parents, which meant they were out, and we had the house all to ourselves.

  At first I thought he was going to carry me down to the basement, which was our usual hangout, but at the last second he turned away and took me upstairs. He carried me to his room and set me down on his bed. I leaned back when he moved away, just staring at me.

  “Look at that, I’ve got you in my bed baby,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “Yeah you do, so what are you going to do about it,” I challenged.

  Suddenly he shrugged his shirt off and laid down beside me on his side, rested his head in his hand and looked me over. He guided me onto my side, so that my back was to him, and pulled the covers over us. He draped his arm over my waist and pulled me back against him.

  “I’m going to hold you all night long, just like this,” he whispered in my ear.

  “No complaints here,” I said with a smile.

  We laid like that until we heard his parents come home. When his mom called up for him he said he was going to go talk to them. I told him to take his time, but what I didn’t tell him was that I needed a few minutes in order to enact my plan. As soon as he was gone I closed his door and locked it. I stripped out of my clothes and changed into one of his black shirts (which swallowed me) and a pair of his sweat pants (rolled up like 10 times because he’s a giant!).

  When I was done I heard someone coming up the steps and quickly unlocked his door. I stood in the middle of the room, waiting for him to walk in. His door opened and I held my breath, hoping he would like my little surprise. When he walked in he immediately stopped moving, hell I think he even stopped breathing. I was getting nervous just standing there, and his silence was killing me.

  “Hell,” he said in a strangled voice.

  He swept me up and put me back on his bed, this time climbing on top of me. His lips were on mine with bruising force, but I didn’t mind. I loved this side of him because he was so passionate. He moved from my lips to my neck, his heart pounding under my fingers and his breathing labored.

  “You undo me when you wear my clothes baby,” he said when he finally pulled away.

  I gave him a lazy smile. I felt like I had turned to mush from all his passion. I was too comfortable to move and he must have noticed because he chuckled. He dropped down beside me and laid on his stomach. I managed to turn my head and found him staring at me.

  “You undo me too,” I said quietly.

  “I like the sight of you in my clothes a bit too much,” he admitted.

  “Your clothes are so comfortable! You are never getting these back,” I said seriously.

  “Sweetheart, I could get them back easily if I wanted to, but honestly I like the sight of you in my clothes too much to try.”

  I felt my face heat and I put my hands up to cover my blush. I heard him flip over and felt his fingers on my wrists. He pulled my hands away and kissed my cheeks, my nose, my eyelids, and finally my lips. He was silently telling me that he hates when I hide my blush.

  I laid on my side and looked at him. He looked at me and we both smiled. We talked and talked until both of us were exhausted. He turned me over and I went to get up, saying I had to get home, but he pulled me back against him and held me there.

  “Stay baby,” he pleaded.

  I would have been able to walk away, but I made the mistake of looking back at him. He looked so lonely and sad without me. I immediately relaxed in his arms and snuggled back into him. My parents had stopped expecting me to come home as much but they rested easy knowing I was right next door.

  “Okay, but I hope you know that this is only going to make it harder to sleep without you,” I said with a smile.

  “I know, but I can’t resist this. I want you used to sleeping in my arms, because it’s right where I always want you to be,” he said seriously.

  He dropped a kiss on my neck and we drifted off to sleep. I dreamt the sweetest dreams about having a future with Carson. The best part of my dream? He was down on one knee proposing.

  I woke up wishing to go back to sleep. Although, things quickly got better. I rolled over and gazed at the glorious sight that is Carson with bedhead. His hair was all over the place, but it had never looked more gorgeous. He was mumbling in his sleep, and that made me press closer to try to hear what he was saying. That turned out to be a lost cause, because as soon as I pressed closer, his eyes shot open.

  He blinked twice before pinching his arm. I raised my eyebrow at him and he smiled. I leaned in and kissed his cheek. I may love him, but I refuse to kiss him right now. Hello, morning breath, ewww!

  “Ok, so this definitely isn’t a dream. In my dreams you always kiss me,” he said with a sigh.

  “Ok, no matter what I feel for you, morning breath is still gross,” I said with a laugh.

  He sighed again, but this time he pulled me flush against him and kissed my neck. I leaned in and kissed his neck too. I hoped this would be the first in a long line of good morning neck kisses. Carson pulled away and stretched, grabbing his phone in the process.

  “Crap! We overslept. You missed your first class. We’ve got to get moving,” he said with a frown.

  I quickly grabbed my clothes and debated changing back into them. I quickly shot that idea down when I caught Carson staring at me. I would do anything to have a few more minutes of him looking at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the world, and it seemed like me wearing his clothes achieved that, so they were staying. I walked out of his room, still in his clothes. He followed me, obviously wanted to see what I would do next.

  I dropped my clothes on the kitchen table and headed towards the coffee maker. He laughed and grabbed a mug that made me smile. I had gotten him this mug for Christmas as a joke one year, it says “I catch therefore I am” on it.

  After I downed my coffee I kissed him reluctantly, grabbed my clothes, and promised to meet him at our classroom. I ran home, thankful my parents were already at work. I knew Carson would beat me to the classroom, because he takes like no time at all to get ready, so I took my time. I showered quickly and straightened my hair. After that I got dressed in a pair of black stilettos, white skinny jeans, and a silver sequined tank top, topping the look off with bright red lipstick.

  I looked at myself in the mirror and I knew I looked fabulous. After checking myself out for a few minutes I ran down and hopped in my car. I gunned it to school, knowing I didn’t have that long to make it to campus if I wanted to be on time to my class. Once on campus I parked and dashed out the door, knowing I was going to see my boyfriend as soon as I got to class could make me really move it.

  I was about to turn the corner that lead to the hallway my classroom is on when I heard Carson’s voice. Now my mama always told me that eavesdropping was wrong, but what could this hurt? After all, he was talking to Kami. I could hear her voice echoing down the hallway as well. Things sounded tense. I was listening to what sounded like poor attempts at harsh whispers. I might have to step in and offer my counsel.

  The more I listened the more worried I got, even though I couldn’t completely catch on to everything that was being said. At one point Kami started to sound downright angry, and that takes some work because she locks up her anger tight. She knew her anger could be explosive, so she always tried to be really careful about letting it out. I took a few steps closer, getting ready to step
around the corner and interfere, when my world shifted out from under me a little bit.

  “You know Alara wants to tell you how she feels so badly it’s driving her insane right?”

  “I know! Look, I don’t know what to do here Kami.”

  “Well I don’t know what to tell you, except, man up! You created this problem, not her, so you need to find a way to deal with it.”

  Carson sighed and things were quiet for a moment. I could picture him gathering his thoughts. I could hear the tapping of Kami’s foot, she was clearly irritated with him.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” Carson pleaded.

  “What could I possibly do to help you,” she said with a sigh.

  “Keep her from telling me, please Kami. You’re the only one she’ll listen to, so it has to be you,” he said quickly.