Top Notch (Man on Top Book 1)

by Nicole Richard

  I forced a laugh, thankful for the interim distraction.

  All night I had only managed a single and sat in the dugout in a piss-poor mood. The first five innings we held on to the lead, keeping New York at a steady trail by at least three runs. And I had nothing to do with it. But now, the pressure was on. The energy in the crowd was buzzing, in hopes that the Bucks did their job and brought it home in the final inning.

  Crack!

  Chase hit a line drive, left center. He’s passing second . . . attempting to steal third, but managed to trip.

  “Safe!” the umpire yelled after Chase slid into third base.

  I shook off the tension as my cleats touched the rubber. From the minute I stepped into the dugout earlier, Coach had his eyes on me, studying me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up. But what the hell did I expect? The man was a constant reminder of what was at stake.

  Since Rowan left earlier than expected last Sunday, she and I have had zero communication. Complete radio silence. It was hard to believe we went from fun and flirty to downright explosive, ending in nonexistent. And it drove me batshit crazy.

  Over the last five days, I had thought about texting and calling, but my execution was shit. Having no idea what I would say if she did answer, I let a few more days pass to let things blow over. If I was being honest, maybe we were moving too fast.

  Somehow, this astonishingly smart and crazy beautiful woman had found a way under my skin, and I had no clue how to handle it.

  Crack! I launched that fucker deep into right field. Keeping my eyes on the ball, I took two steps out of the box before tossing my bat and running all four bases, sliding into home. “Yes!” I punched the air. “Fucking finally!” I yelled, jogging back to the dugout.

  It was a good feeling, the guys congratulating me. The smile on my face, a genuine one for the first time all night. Dropping my happy ass onto the bench next to Chase, he held his fist out toward me. “What the hell happened to you out there?” I asked between sucking in breaths.

  “Fuck, if I know, but for sure, I thought I was out.” He grinned, wiping the sweat from his forehead onto the side of his jersey.

  “What’d you trip on?” I asked, laughing.

  “No clue, brother. No fucking clue.”

  * * *

  A win was a win no matter how you looked at it, and when the Bucks won, rain or shine, we celebrated. Except tonight I thought of every single excuse I could come up with to bow out of partying the night away at our namesake bar.

  Luck had actually been on my side, or so I thought until Greg stopped me at my truck. I tossed my bags into the back seat and when I closed the back door, he was standing there, his expression hard to read, and I couldn’t help but wonder that if he had something to say, why he didn’t call me into his office like he normally would.

  “Montgomery.” He gave me a short nod.

  “Coach,” I acknowledged, studying him, waiting.

  He lifted his chin and cleared his throat. “Is everything okay with you?”

  I nodded and tucked my hands in my pockets. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Not sure. That’s why I’m out here asking.”

  His phone ringing interrupted our conversation. “Excuse me one second.”

  I nodded. Fuck. It was coming. My impending departure seeped through my bones. It wouldn’t surprise me if he pulled a ticket out of his back pocket and told me to pack my bags and be at the airport early the next morning.

  “Hi, sweetheart.” He smiled and paused to examine me. Why the hell was he looking at me like that? “Thank you. It was a good game for sure.” He cleared his throat, and I looked away, hoping he couldn’t see the sweat forming at my temples. There were only three people, women rather, he would call sweetheart. “Sounds good. I’ll see you soon, and thanks for calling. I love you too.”

  He tucked his phone into his back pocket. “Rowan,” he said, and I cringed, cursing myself, praying he didn’t pick up on my reaction to hearing him say her name. “She called to congratulate the team.”

  “That was nice of her.” I forced a smile.

  “It was. As I was saying—”

  I fisted my hands still in my pockets. “Not sure what you’re asking, Coach.” I held my ground. No matter how much I respected the man, looked up to him, I wouldn’t give shit away—not until Rowan and I had a conversation. Not until I knew it was all worth it in the end.

  “Just making sure everything is all right. You seemed distracted tonight. If you ever need someone—”

  “Nah,” I played it off. “Nothing to worry about.” I smirked and clapped his shoulder. “You ever plan on joining us at Bucks, old man?” I joked, taking a step back I pulled my truck door open, deflecting. If he sensed I was holding back, he didn’t show it. And I was more than ready to haul ass out of there.

  As always, he remained cool in his response. “This Old Man, is going home to spend what’s left of his evening with his beautiful wife.”

  How do you know? We’ve been careful, and I’ve been suspended.

  “Well, then, have a good night.” I hopped in my truck and turned the key in the ignition. That wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe I would make a detour and pay Rowan a visit.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Rowan

  In all the years I have lived on my own, tonight was the first time I had ever noticed the quiet. The stillness, the repose, even how lonely the sound of nothing could be as I sat enveloped in it. A stark understanding of why Levi preferred the noise. Although, with my career and how demanding it could be, I enjoyed the peacefulness—most times.

  Except tonight, the quiet was loud and daunting with the turmoil in my mind.

  Last weekend, everything had been perfect, amazing even, sipping margaritas, being lazy in the pool, talking, being intimate. Even after he explained what happened with him and Madison, I didn’t think his accusations were warranted.

  I took a sip of my chamomile tea, staring absently at the thick book in my lap. I read the same line for what felt like the hundredth time, still not absorbing one word. How could I when all I could think about was him, missing him, regardless of how our weekend had turned out.

  When Levi let me into his world, where I got to meet some of the people that meant the most to him, that private side of his life had to have meant something, right?

  My eyes wandered to the empty space next to me on my queen-sized bed, imagining Levi lying there, having just fallen asleep. A lazy half-smile pulled in one corner of his mouth, content and lightly snoring. Even in slumber, he was manly and gorgeous.

  I tried to give the large manual in my lap another bout of my attention when “Whatever it Takes” invaded my thoughts. I debated answering, if I was ready to talk to him. It had only been five lonely days since our blowout. Five days of asking myself if I had done the right thing by asking him to take me home.

  It didn’t matter though, by the time I reached for the nightstand, the phone stopped ringing.

  My body slumped deeper into the mattress. Why were we avoiding each other? Why couldn’t we just talk things out like normal human beings? I stared at my home screen, debating if I should call him back, but not a minute later, it started to ring again.

  This time there was no hesitation when I answered, but I was cautious. “Hey.” I closed the book and shoved it onto the bed next to me.

  “Did I wake you?” His voice was soft and smooth, reminding me how much I missed him.

  “No. Shouldn’t you be trying to get some rest?” It was late and they’d had a game tonight. He must have been beat.

  “Been trying to, but I can’t.”

  You and me both.

  “Angel?”

  “Yes,” I hesitated.

  “I’m sorry.” The sincerity of his apology softened my heart a little. “I was out of line. I overreacted, and it’s driving me fucking crazy that you left the way you did. Can you forgive me? Please.”

  Could I forgive him? Was it
that simple? It could be.

  What I should have done was give it more time to blow over, mull over his reaction. But what would drawing it out accomplish? Admittedly, my omission of Greg and his relation to me did not even come close in comparison to the shit Madison put him through. But it hurt; he basically accused me of flat-out lying to him. And aside from the whole Greg fiasco, I didn’t think my insufficient use of birth control should have upset him the way it did, since we had used condoms every other time. I was not the type of woman to blatantly deceive a man for personal gain or any other reason.

  “I understand your frustrations, I really do, but if you’re going to fly off the handle every time a difficult topic comes up, maybe we should take a step back—”

  “No,” he answered adamantly. “I enjoy your company and was thinking, well, maybe, we could start over.”

  Levi reacting in haste wasn’t exactly unwarranted. I could understand him being thrown off guard. Relationships were bound to have misunderstandings; it was how you handled them that mattered. And truth of the matter was, I liked him too much to give up this early on.

  “Levi. We haven’t even touched the subject of Greg—”

  “I’ll worry about that.”

  “What will happen if Greg finds out we are seeing each other?”

  Silence.

  “Levi,” I chastised, having an idea of how bad it could be.

  “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  I sighed, a little frustrated, knowing he wouldn’t elaborate and if I kept at it, we’d only go in circles. “Fine.”

  “Thank you.”

  There was another short stretch of silence. “So, what do you say? Can you forgive me?”

  God, I hope this doesn’t backfire.

  “Yes, you’re forgiven.” Levi was a good guy who deserved a chance.

  “You won’t regret it.” He yawned. “I’m freaking exhausted, but I can’t sleep.”

  “I bet if you were reading what I was reading, you’d fall asleep in no time,” I joked.

  “Yeah?” I could hear the smile in his voice. “What were you reading?”

  “Geometric Design of Highways and Streets.”

  “Yup. That would do it.” He laughed softly. “Are you wearing your sexy glasses?”

  “I don’t know about sexy.”

  “Let me be the judge of that.”

  We sat quiet again for a short moment, the only sound passing through the cell phone speakers were the two of us breathing, until he rasped, “Angel?”

  “Hmmm.”

  Another short pause.

  “Can I come over?” My brows knitted. It was late. “I’ll behave. I just want to sleep next to you. Promise.”

  I scanned my bedroom. It was fairly clean. What I should have been more concerned with was if my home, although homey and perfect for me, would live up to his expectations. Did he have expectations?

  “I’ll wait up.”

  “Thank you.”

  After we hung up, I decided if a man like Levi was going to like an everyday girl like me, he’d have to take me as I was. What you see is what you get. And I had barely grabbed my robe when there was a knock on my front door. I slipped the robe on over my thin tank and my boy short panties, since I wasn’t wearing a bra.

  At the front door, I peeked through the peephole, and when I opened the door, I asked, “Were you outside this whole time?”

  His guilty smile and the gleam in his eyes told me “yes.” Our entire conversation was had while he sat fifteen feet away. Wasn’t he Mr. Optimistic?

  “What if I had said no to you coming over?” I shut and locked the door.

  When I turned to face him, he pulled me into his arms. “It was a chance I was willing to take.” And he crashed his mouth on mine. He kissed me like a man starved that hadn’t seen me in months, when in actuality it had only been five days. His apology was felt in that kiss.

  “I missed you,” he whispered and pressed one last kiss to my lips. “So much. Hated every minute we were apart. Come on. It’s time for bed.” He guided me to the hallway, guessing it would lead to my bedroom. This was his first time in my home, after all.

  I assumed the lead, and after passing the threshold of my bedroom, he wasted no time closing the door and stripping down to his boxer briefs. Without missing a beat, he tugged my sash open and pushed my robe off my shoulders, tossing it to the side.

  “Sexy,” he whispered, gently pulling the arms of my glasses and carefully setting them atop my dresser. “Lift your arms.” He dragged my tank top up and over my skin and a soft groan slipped past his lips. My brow pulled high, questioning his motives. He promised he’d behave and it was getting late. But there was no way I’d deny him.

  “You’re still sunburned,” he pointed out, kissing the top of my shoulder. I closed my eyes, savoring the tender moment.

  “Levi,” I whispered, pleading, bracing for his touch, welcoming it in fact. A week ago long forgotten. My body had become addicted to him.

  “Shh, I just want you in my shirt.” He tugged his shirt over my head, careful of the burn dulling on my shoulders as the soft material scraped over my hard nipples. I opened my eyes, a tiny bit shot down that he wasn’t taking it further. The shirt fell to the tops of my knees and I smiled at his subtle possessiveness. I found it endearing, actually, never having had a man dote on me the way Levi did.

  Holding my smile, I inhaled, catching the scent of him. Lucky I’d be surrounded by it—by him all night. Then I took notice of the time. Sleep was necessary to function, but in his presence, I needed him more. He did that to me without even trying.

  “Not tonight, angel,” he answered knowingly to my body’s reaction to him. He kissed my cheek and gently swatted my butt. “Which side do you sleep on?”

  I pointed to the left, a little more disappointed but grateful.

  Levi reached over, grabbing the heavy book and set it on the floor. He brushed his knuckle down the side of my cheek, a content smile on his lips and a softness in his chocolate eyes, conveying things I assumed he wasn’t quite ready to voice yet. Lord knows there were things I’d wanted to say, feelings I wanted to share but kept them to myself.

  Then he ushered me into bed and turned off the bedside lamp before he followed suit. Reaching for my waist, he pulled my back to his chest. He covered us in the thin blanket and hooked one leg over mine, cocooning me to him. My body tingled and my heart swelled, leaving me no choice but to think this was a whole lot more.

  “You’re addicting, you know that?” I closed my eyes at the sound of his soothing voice. “I had no idea spending a weekend with you could do this to me.” He kissed the back of my head and gently squeezed me in his arms. “This definitely changes the game,” he whispered.

  “What changes the game?” My heart beat a little faster. What are you trying to say?

  He didn’t answer me.

  Lying in his arms offered me a minute to listen, think, and reflect, and in that moment, it was my heart whispering how happy it felt. And somewhere in the midst of it, I had Levi to thank.

  Just as my lids became too heavy to continue fighting my sleep, he kissed the back of my head and gently rasped, “Sweet dreams, angel.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Levi

  With my suspension a thing of the past, it was another city, another win, one more night of dragging my ass back to my empty hotel room. The struggle was real, the late nights catching up with me. At least that’s the excuse I told myself, but I knew a lot of it had to do with the pressures of Greg and being in the dark when it came to Rowan and me.

  How could it not when the man who saw the good in you gave you the chance you weren’t sure you deserved and called you son? It meant something. And when you were dating his daughter without him having any knowledge of it, it made for a shitty feeling.

  I waved my keycard above the metal handle and shoved the hotel room door open, tossed my bags to the side, and dropped my tired ass on the bed. It was one in th
e morning, and I wanted to talk to Rowan but knew she would be asleep.

  Staring at the smooth finish of the high ceiling, I thought about how much Rowan had come to mean to me. And wondered if it was possible a lasting relationship could develop this early on. Once Madison walked out, I thought I’d revert back to my old ways. I did, in fact, for a short while, until a pretty blonde angel sat back down and decided I was worth talking to.

  I pulled my phone from my back pocket and sent her a quick text.

  Me: Sweet dreams, angel.

  I didn’t expect a response, and didn’t get one. But I did get a knock on my hotel room door, an obnoxious knock telling me who might be standing on the other side.

  “Montgomery. Come on, let’s go.” Hatch’s muffled voice came through the fancy metal.

  I yanked the door open. “Let’s go where? It’s late—”

  “Where else? The guys are heading over to The Club.”

  That’s the last place I wanted to be. A bunch of half-naked women, shaking their hips amongst other body parts in time to some song, parading around a stage silently begging for tips. Why couldn’t the guys just grab a six-pack from the store in the lobby and pile into one of their suites or better yet, just call room service?

  “Nah, man, I’m good. Gonna hit the sack.” I started to close the door, dismissing him.

  “The fuck you are. Get your ass out here and hang with us. And if you’re worried about your girl getting pissed, I’ll make sure all lap dances are reserved for me.” He smirked.

  “I’d rather jerk off in a cold shower,” I joked, but I honestly considered doing just that. I didn’t need any kind of bad publicity. There was just too much at stake, and a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

  “You’re fucked.” He laughed. “You wanna just hang in the hotel bar?”

  “Nope.” My phone made a familiar sound. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I let go of the door and “Whatever, dude,” filtered through the small space just before the door clicked shut.