Hard to Catch: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (The Beasts of Baseball Book 3)

by Alice Ward

  The guy holding my head down released the pressure and I rolled away, scrambling out of his reach. I turned and saw Todd standing with a knife against my attacker’s throat.

  Making small movements, he walked the guy closer to me, a drop of blood trickling down the man’s neck. Once he was close enough, he shoved the attacker away and hauled me to my feet. I reached for my pants and pulled them on, my fingers trembling so badly they could barely pull up the zipper.

  Knife hand outstretched, Todd eyed the men as he pushed me in the direction of the car. When one of the guys moved, my protector snarled. I’d never seen anyone so furious, so powerful, so Beast-like.

  A siren chirped in the background, and I could see blue lights flashing around the corner. The men scattered, along with the few people who had been watching the scene.

  At least there weren’t any paparazzi lurking around.

  The rest of the crowd took off once the two cop cars parked and officers exited onto the street. The officers immediately recognized Todd, and of course wanted to know what he was doing in this part of town. He explained and gave his statement. Even though his knuckles were bloodied, his face had enough damage to prove he wasn’t the attacker. Once they talked to me, they pushed for me to go to the hospital for a rape kit.

  “I wasn’t raped,” I explained to the female officer.

  “You should still be examined and have a test done. We may be able to locate the suspect by any DNA collected,” she said calmly. “Mr. Morris should be treated too.”

  I didn’t want to deal with any of this, and I was tempted to say no. Todd had saved me. I hadn’t been raped, even though it was close. I looked at Todd’s cuts and knew he’d never get them treated if I didn’t go with him. I nodded and we headed to the emergency room.

  ***

  Three hours later, we stepped out of the hospital, exhaustion a huge weight on my shoulders. “I just want to go home,” I whispered and reached out for Todd’s hand.

  “I’ll take you to your apartment for a few things, but you’re staying with me tonight,” he insisted, squeezing my hand tightly.

  I didn’t argue. I gave him directions and fell back into the leather seat as he drove. Once we pulled up, he helped me out of the car. My entire body ached. “Isn’t this the player’s apartments?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re staying here?”

  “It’s where Rhett placed me until I find my own place. I left so quickly for Florida, I didn’t have time,” I explained.

  He looked at me funny. “Doesn’t your dad have a penthouse downtown?”

  I unlocked the door, quickly grabbed a bag and began shoving a few items inside. “He sold it. It’s not like we spent enough time in New York. Besides, he likes hotels,” I lied.

  He seemed satisfied with the answer. We walked out the door, back to his car, and then he began with more questions. “Do you have a car you want me to have maintained while here? The winters are harsh.”

  “No. I left mine in Georgia,” I said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. I did leave it in Georgia. I just left out the part where I left it at the car lot where it was sold.

  I was relieved to be back at Todd’s and out of the car. His questions were simple, but for me, they were complicated to answer. I hated lying to him, but I'd promised my family I would keep their secret. I hated that they'd made it my secret. It wasn’t my secret.

  Todd rushed me past the security guard at the front door and avoided answering any questions from the elevator attendant who looked at us with confusion. Todd’s face was busted up pretty badly, his shirt ripped halfway from his chest, and his knuckles covered with gauze. I didn’t even want to know what I looked like. I was certain it was bad. Real bad. I could feel gravel in my hair, and my clothes were ripped so badly, I had to hold them in place.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up,” Todd said softly, guiding me to the back room.

  A large bed sat in the center of the room, covered with blue satin sheets and football shaped pillows. “Is this your room?” I asked.

  He nodded, moving me toward the large set of white doors. They opened to an oversized, beautifully decorated bathroom with granite walls and floors. “Wow,” I gasped.

  Todd slowly undressed me, his eyes staring into mine with so much remorse it made me queasy. “This isn’t your fault,” I assured him.

  He frowned. “Yes, it is.”

  “You saved me.”

  “You wouldn’t have needed to be saved if you weren’t there.”

  My clothes fell to the floor. I stepped out of my pants. Where were my panties? Oh God! Tears began to stream down my face as Todd wrapped his arms around me. “It’s okay. I gotcha.”

  He reached behind me, turned on the shower and then backed me slowly under the stream of warm water. He was fully clothed inside the shower with me, causing me to laugh. He smiled, lifted my chin with his finger, and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine.

  The kiss was so tender, so needed, my legs nearly melted beneath me. His strong arms gripped me, holding me safely in place as his tongue entangled with mine.

  My hands clawed at his body, pulling at the shirt that barely hung onto his skin. My fingers worked vigorously to release his jeans, pushing them down to his ankles. He stepped out, pressed against me, letting his cock twitch at my thigh.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, hesitation in his voice. “After…?”

  I felt safe. Safer than I’d ever felt before.

  Pulling his head down to mine, I whispered, “Make me forget.”

  “I don’t have a condom.”

  I’d never had sex without a condom, even though I’d been on the pill for years. But I wanted him. I trusted him to keep me safe. “It’s okay, I’m on the pill.”

  His hands reached around my thighs, lifting me up from the floor and wrapping me around his waist. He turned, pushing my back into the shower wall as the warm water cascaded over my head and down in between our bodies. Within an instant, he was inside of me, his cock pushing me apart, filling me with the same safe feeling his arms had offered.

  My eyes closed. Everything that had happened this evening disappeared. It was just me and Todd. It was just our bodies rocking together, my hips rolling into his, his cock pushing deeper and deeper into me. This was all I needed.

  Soft kisses caressed my shoulder as he lifted me away from the wall and held me in his arms. He reached to turn the shower off but didn’t release me. He walked to the bed with me wrapped around him like a fanny pack. My back fell softly against the satin sheets, then he placed a football-shaped pillow underneath my head. I was soaking wet, so was he, but it didn’t seem to matter to either of us. Our bodies never unlatched, his cock never left the warmth of my body as he pinned me beneath him.

  Waves of pleasure rolled through me as he thrust slowly, taking his time. His eyes locked onto mine, so blue and full of passion that my orgasm couldn’t be held back. I let go, allowing the pulses to take over, exploding to the place only he could take me. He followed, growling through his release as he filled me with his essence.

  I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “For what?” he asked, kissing me back.

  “For everything.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Todd

  Every muscle in my body ached as I rolled over to Kat. My phone vibrated on the nightstand next to her. I quickly grabbed it and slid from the bed. Rhett, fuck! I didn’t want to talk to him right now.

  I rushed out of the bedroom, away from Katrina, and answered the phone. I didn’t even get a greeting out before Rhett’s voice blasted through the phone. “What the fuck happened last night?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to remain calm.

  I didn’t see any press, and the cops were quick to agree the matter had no reason to go public. How did he find out?

  “I’m sitting here watching a YouTube video of you fighting street thugs,” he grow
led.

  I slammed my hand into my forehead. It was throbbing from the beating it took the night before. “I can explain,” I said as calmly as I could.

  Rhett wasn’t interested in my excuses and continued to rattle about how he’d fucked up letting me leave to go to New York. “Rhett, fucking listen to me!” I shouted into the phone to stop his rant.

  The silence on the other end of the phone was long enough to allow me to tell him my side of the story. He listened as I explained my brother’s situation, and how Katrina was being attacked. “Why in the fuck did you take her to that part of town?” he barked.

  I had asked myself that question over and over. I felt horrible for what happened to her, what almost happened to her. “She insisted. She takes this babysitting thing pretty fucking serious,” I explained.

  “I want you both back here tonight, and you at practice first thing in the morning,” he demanded before hanging up the phone.

  I heard Katrina’s phone ringing as I snuck back toward the bedroom. I rushed through the door to warn her that it was Rhett, but she’d already answered and was holding a finger to her lips as I walked into the room.

  His voice was calmer, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying to her. I sat down on the edge of the bed and listened carefully, trying to determine what his tone would be with her. She clicked the speaker button and let me hear him tell her to dig deeper into the story of my brother. “Maybe we can spin this so the bad light is taken away from Todd and placed on his brother where it belongs,” he said.

  I shook my head vigorously, asking her to disapprove of his plan.

  “It’s the only way I can see how to fix this major fuck up,” Rhett continued to say. “The media has Morris looking like a monster. If we show his loyalty to his strung out brother, maybe, just maybe the fans will understand.”

  “Okay. I’ll check in with you when we land in Daytona,” she said and hung up the phone.

  Was she planning to run the story? I’d already told her everything about Marcus, there was no need to dig any further. Fuck, I’m an idiot.

  “I don’t want that story spun,” I insisted.

  She sat up on the bed, propped with pillows behind her back. “Todd, if I don’t fix this, I could lose my job.”

  “Fuck your job. This is my family, my brother. He’s had enough problems as it is. This could destroy him,” I argued.

  “He’s already destroyed himself, why let him destroy you in the process?”

  My fists clenched, my knuckles burning from the pain of open sores as I squeezed. No. There was no way. “I already let you invade my mother’s privacy, but I only agreed to that because of the good it would bring. This brings nothing good. It just fucks up someone’s life. Someone whose life is already pretty damn shitty.”

  “It brings good,” she insisted, pleading at me with her eyes. “You don’t look like a monster. It shows the fans you had a reason for being in that part of town. Right now they can conclude that you were buying drugs, looking for trouble… anything.”

  I stared at her, trying to understand her motivation. “You’re just worried about protecting your precious job. Or is it Rhett that you’re protecting?”

  I couldn’t figure out what her angle was. Her face flushed. She cleared her throat like she was nervous but didn’t argue or defend herself. Her dad was loaded, she didn’t need this job. So it had to be Rhett, but why? If she was messing with Rhett, why was she here with me? Was all this part of their media game? Was I a PR stunt?

  “I’m protecting you,” she said finally.

  “Me?” I scoffed. “I don’t need you to protect me. In fact, I don’t need anything from you.”

  The look on her face made my stomach roll and my heart ache. That wasn’t true. I did need her. Or at least I thought I did. The words my sister had whispered in my ear after dinner — keep your heart open, little brother — burned my brain as they ricocheted from my skull. Yeah, keep it open, look what that gets you… played!

  I watched as she rolled from the bed. Her body was tense, obviously sore from the rough handling during her attack. I suddenly felt that remorse, that guilt flood through me again. This was entirely my fault.

  “Fine. I’ll call a cab,” she snorted as she dug through her bag of clothes.

  “I’ll just call the airport and get flights. There’s no reason to stay here,” I said, exiting the room.

  I played the conversation over and over in my head as I fumbled on my phone for the airport's number. That look she gave me, what was it? Fear? It was obvious she was lying, or at the very least hiding something. If it wasn’t Rhett, then what?

  I knew better than to open my heart. This was why I should never let anyone in. Damn contracts should have a “don’t fall for a woman” clause because that pain was worse than any motorcycle accident.

  Holding my head gripped in one hand, I hit the call button to the airport. The woman on the other end of the phone was chipper, too chipper for the mood I was in. “Two tickets to Daytona. No stops. First available.”

  “I have two tickets left for this afternoon's flight. First class okay?” she asked.

  “Perfect.”

  “The only problem is the seats are not together, but I’m sure—” she started to say.

  “Even better,” I snarled, and then read her my credit card information.

  "Todd Morris, from the Beasts?” she asked when I said my name.

  “One in the same.”

  “I certainly hope you’re okay. I watched that video of the fight last night. And that poor girl, is she okay?” Her words shook me.

  “The girl?” I asked.

  “Yes. The one in the video being assaulted by those men. She must’ve been so scared before you saved her,” she continued.

  “She’s fine. Thanks for asking.” I finished the transaction and disconnected the call.

  That same twinge of guilt rolled through my veins again. Katrina didn’t know that she had been videoed. I could only hope they didn’t expose too much of her on the Internet.

  She exited the bedroom, stood in the living room with her bags in hand. “I got two tickets this afternoon. I’ll call the driver, we’ll grab lunch, and head to the airport,” I said, feeling a bit softer toward her than earlier.

  “Just take me to the airport. I’ll get lunch there,” she said irritably, but I could sense the exhaustion beneath the sharp words.

  Okay then. The feeling of remorse disappeared.

  I avoided eye contact with her as I moved past her to the bedroom. I gathered my clothes, made the call to the driver, and then took a quick look at myself in the mirror. I was hoping I didn’t look as bad as I felt. No such luck.

  “Let’s go,” I said to her as I walked for my front door.

  Teresa was handling the move with our mother, Marcus would have to be someone else’s problem until I got back, and I needed to focus on the game, training, and winning. If I wasn’t going to use Marcus to explain why I was in that part of town, it would be a lot of hard work to win back the fans that had their own ideas about my intentions.

  I searched through my phone for the video of the fight as we rode to the airport. I watched Katrina scrolling through her tablet, probably doing the same thing. The video was short, luckily only catching the tail end of the fight, but the one with Katrina, that was a bit longer, and caught much more than the tail end. I turned to her, her face was pale, her knuckles white as she tightly gripped her device. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks as the driver pulled up to the airport drop-off.

  I wanted to say something. I wanted to reach out and hug her, wipe away her tears, but before I could, she was already out of the car. She grabbed her bags, racing toward the entrance while I struggled to keep up. Airport security was crowded, and she wouldn’t look at me as we made our way through. The walk to our gate was short, leaving little time to have a heartfelt conversation. Maybe it was for the best. She had a lot to process. After the way I'd treated her, the things I
'd said. It was best to cool it for a bit.

  I grabbed a burger at the bar while Katrina snacked at the vending machine near our gate. I watched her on the hard, uncomfortable chairs, squirming to find a comfortable position as she fumbled with her Oreos and can of Sunkist orange soda. She was stubborn, that was for sure. But there was still something inside of me that said she was hiding something.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Katrina

  I caught Todd peeking at me from his seat on the plane once or twice, but he never tried to speak. His facial expression wasn’t cold, but it certainly wasn’t warm. I was confused, hurt, and even a little angry. Who the hell did he think he was?

  Okay, so maybe I acted a little strange when he questioned me about the job, but it wasn’t about Rhett, not at all. It was about the fact my dad lost everything, and this job was the only thing I had to survive.

  Maybe if I told him the truth, he’d understand. My heart ached at the thought of how loyal Todd was to his family. He was willing to take a fall, possibly lose fans, his position on the team, just to keep his brother’s name out of the media. Wasn’t that what I was doing now? It was my dad’s secret, my mother’s fear of their family’s image being ruined. None of this was my decision.

  It didn’t matter. He was obviously not interested in talking. His nose was pushed into a magazine as the loud speaker announced we were ready to land in Daytona. As soon as the flight attendant said it was clear to unload, he was up and out of the plane. I followed a few feet behind him, realizing we were being collected by the same driver. This was silly. He was being ridiculous. I didn’t have time for this. I had way too much to handle, and without his cooperation, it was going to be extremely tough.

  “Ladies first,” he said with a smirk as he held open the door to the black SUV.

  I slid into the seat, avoided eye contact, and didn’t react to the sexy scent of his cologne that wafted under my nose. Damn, why did he have to smell so good?

  “I’m sorry,” he said, and then paused as my heart fluttered, and my eyes began to well up with tears. That’s all I wanted to hear. That’s all I needed to hear. “Those assholes had no right to put that video of you on the Internet.”